In pure macro econ, all trade is considered a washout simply because goods are exchanged for currency at a price satisfactory to both parties. This assumes, of course, that both parties don’t represent the same interests that may be counter to either supply or demand sides. What we should be very critical of when considering manipulations by China is its trend in purchasing American companies that allows price fixing that favors its currency.

The damage done to American labor falls squarely on domestic fiscal policies that fail to protect workers. When federal policy makes workers unemployed, either via trade or monetary policy, the government owes those workers access to jobs that compensate them equally to the jobs they lost. Without the government acting as the employer of last resort, offering wage and benefit levels able to sustain families and setting the bottom for private employment, it all becomes a race to the bottom that is only partly mitigated by cheap goods.