US/China: Partners in Manipulation

While the yuan remains artificially devalued, the United States deliberately turns a blind eye.

This unexpected alliance masks a cynical pact: preserving American symbolic power at the cost of real economic decline.

The Sino-American face-off is merely a theater; currency manipulation is their shared secret.

The staggering distortions experienced by the global economy are caused by phenomenal price differences between what prevails inside Chinese territory and outside.

A night at the Waldorf Astoria in New York costs $2,000, while the same night at the Waldorf Astoria in Beijing is $330. A hybrid BYD sells for $15,000 in China, but $50,000 everywhere else.

The endemic weakness of the yuan clearly amplifies this substantial price gap and stabilizes the cost of living in China while prices for materials and production rise everywhere else.

Under these conditions, isn’t it tempting to relocate to China when production costs have soared by 35% in Europe and 25% in the United States over the past five years?

Because a meaningful figure has just been officially announced. For the first time in its long history, China has surpassed $1 trillion in goods and merchandise exported to the rest of the world this year.

Undeniably, unquestionably, the Chinese engine is fueled by the weakness of its currency, which – at around 7.1 renminbi to the dollar – is undervalued by nearly 50% compared to its equilibrium value, estimated at around 3.5 yuan to the dollar.

This explains, regardless of the merits of Chinese companies, these remarkable export performances. For instance, Europe imports six times more Chinese vehicles in 2025 than it did five years ago!

Yet, this persistent weakness of the Chinese currency – even artificially undervalued, even manipulated – represents an unacknowledged boon for the United States of America.

A yuan at 7 instead of a level that experts say should be around 3.5 prevents the US from facing a supreme humiliation: being relegated to the rank of second-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP.

Indeed, if Beijing were to finally let the yuan appreciate toward its fair value, the nominal Chinese GDP (converted to dollars) would mechanically double, soaring well beyond $30 trillion and far surpassing that of the United States.

This unusual American tolerance for the extreme weakness of the currency of their main competitor must, of course, be understood in light of fundamental geopolitical stakes.

Being the “world’s number one economy” goes far beyond statistics: it is a pillar of American power, reinforcing its position in international alliances, trade negotiations, and global public perception.

An officially number one China in terms of nominal GDP would accelerate the world’s shift, openly challenge American hegemony, erode investor confidence, amplify narratives of American decline, and tarnish the prestige of the United States.

Yet Washington sacrifices its industries by tolerating this currency dumping, all in the name of a symbolic victory.

No matter: American elites and powers prefer a weakened real economy at the price of maintaining their “number one” status.

This weak yuan acts as a convenient veil. It masks America’s relative decline, avoids a direct confrontation that would reveal the empire’s vulnerability.

This massive currency distortion preserves their geopolitical pride, even at the cost of their own deindustrialization.