Trump Opens Mouth, Inserts Imported Chinese Foot

Donald Trump managed to beclown himself for the second time in a week, while fueling speculation that he may actually be serious about running for president in 2012. Trump's second gaffe came Wednesday, as the media reported that Trump's clothing line is manufactured in China — a country that Trump has urged Americans buy fewer goods from in order to boost the American manufacturing sector. This comes on the heels of Trump's insistence that President Barack Obama release his birth certificate, school transcripts, and explanation for how he managed to get into Ivy League schools. Obama attended Harvard Law School, eventually serving as Harvard Law Review Editor — one of the most prestigious positions a student can hold in America. Trump blames his company's manufacturing products in China on the Chinese government and their well-publicized alleged manipulation of currency. "The answer is very simple: Because of the fact that China so manipulates their currency it makes it almost impossible for American companies to compete," Trump told ABC News. "You see it with all of the items you are talking about. You also see it with building products. If it continues this way, America won't have any jobs, except for taking care of the elderly." Does the Celebrity Apprentice host and presidential hopeful have a point, however? Maybe. Critics have long contended that China manipulates its currency to make its exports cheap to buy and imports difficult to sell in China. This is wonderful for China's manufacturers and terrible for American manufacturers. Add in the reality that things are simply cheaper to produce in China than America, due to a lower standard of living, and it becomes easy to see what Trump means when he says American companies cannot compete in this paradigm. Trump's solution is to tax Chinese imports. He told CNN last year, "When it comes to manufacturing, China is making all of these products. And they could be made in North Carolina, they could be made in Alabama, they could be made in lots of our places. And right now they're not. Personally, I'd tax China very, very heavily."