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SED TALKS CRUCIAL, BUT FLAGGING

Oxford Analytica

Forbes, May 27, 2010

The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) is a semi-annual, multi-agency dialogue intended to strengthen coordination of key issues across an increasingly complex relationship. However, at the top levels, the bilateral agenda was swept away by the euro-area currency crisis and escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Led by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and State Councillor Dai Bingguo and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, the SED concluded in Beijing Tuesday. The dialogue appears to have helped keep the bilateral relationship steady amid economic turbulence and a growing security crisis on the Korean peninsula. However, the heavy investment made by President Barack Obama's administration in the process has yet to pay off.

Keeping economic expectations low. The Obama administration deferred the April 15 decision mandated by Congress on whether to declare China a 'currency manipulator' and indicated that the SED and G20 meetings would be more appropriate mechanisms to encourage Beijing to adjust the renminbi upward. However, before departing for China last week, Geithner announced that the U.S. would not make this longstanding problem a central issue in the dialogue.

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