China does not have to play by USA and Western rules, unlike Japan that in 1985 had to depend largely on the USA and Europe for its exports. China is already moving away from the USA and Europe, focusing on expanding trade with the Global South. Why would China cut its nose to spite its face when it can continue to export cheap things to the Global South, leveraging on its currency that the USA and the West claims is too cheap. It is a bonus for the Global South for China to stick to the status quo, albeit a cheaper Yuan.
A cheaper Japanese Yen could have helped Japan actually, but Japan is no longer the kingpin in the export sector anymore, other than vehicles, which is also facing severe headwinds. The Plaza Accord actually made the Yen very expensive and that was the straw that broke the camel's back, with Japan unable to crawl back from the stroke of lightning that crippled its economy for decades. It was a sacrifice for the USA, just like the sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese from the two nukes dropped on Japan earlier.
Anonymous
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The USA and Western leverage of using economic coercion to cripple countries is over. Trying to pull another 'Plaza Accord' against China is fanciful thinking. After all, China, unlike Japan, is not in the G7, the countries that plotted the scam using the Plaza Accord against Japan that was meant to cripple Japan's export juggernaut then; by depreciating the US$ against Japan in particular, and also the currencies of the others. An effort to bring about a falling US$ today will bring disaster to the USA's economy. The USA is no more a net exporter and a depreciated US$ will cause inflation to soar. It will devalue investments in US Treasuries, bonds and cannibalizing retirement funds. This also cannot happen without China agreeing to appreciate the Yuan substantially. Why would China do that to cut its nose to spite its face.
China now has the support of the Global South countries buying what it cannot hope to sell to the USA and Europe as before. The USA cut off Chinese EVs from being sold in the country, but domestically and elsewhere Chinese EVs are selling well enough to sustain the Chinese EV industry. Moreover, China also controlled the major source of batteries for EVs for EV makers of the rest of the world. China has several channels to cut off and cripple most ICE and EV producers in USA and Europe - chips, batteries and rare earth magnets. That fiasco could be gleaned from the Netherland Government's seizure of Nexperia that caused serious problems to vehicle manufacturers not just in Europe, but in the USA as well. The name plate of Nexperia was seized, but the manufacturing assets remain inside China. That was all that matters.
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