US trade deficit at 18 month high

The US trade deficit widened to its highest level in 18 months in May. Driving this gap was the demand for imported cars, computers, and clothing.

The deficit increased by 4.8% to $42.3 billion. Exports were the highest they’ve been since September 2008, but the 2.9% raise in imports was just a bit higher than the 2.4% raise in exports, but it was enough. The biggest import leap came from China. Industrial supplies and cars made up the majority of the boost in exports.

US imports from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations was down by 10%, however.

Google vs. China Returns

For the past three months, Google has been redirecting Chinese searches to its uncensored Hong Kong search engine. The Chinese government claimed that this was unacceptable. China is now seeking to revoke Google’s license to operate in the country.

When Google moved all its China servers to Hong Kong, it complied with Chinese law. Now, China is in charge of blocking the search results rather than Google.

Google has offered a new approach. Now, anyone trying to attempt a Google search is taken to a “landing page”. By clicking anywhere on the page, they are once again redirected to the Hong Kong site. While that might seem no different, Google hopes that, because users are actively pursuing the Hong Kong site, China will concede.

Google’s license is up for renewal on Wednesday. The submission for renewal is based on this change. Once again, this boils down to an argument of ideology. Google refuses to self-censor; China does not want its population accessing information.

Needless to say, this is not the last we’ve heard from the Google/China debate.

China refuses to revalue currency

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says that global economic reforms are being impeded by China’s refusal to revalue their currency. It seems that China’s yuan may be undervalued by up to 40%.

The US has long had issue with the yuan being undervalued, claiming China uses it as a trade advantage. China has maintained the value of the yuan against the dollar since 2008 as demand slipped during the recession.

China says it will begin a gradual revaluing, but has not set a timetable.

Volvo goes to China

Ford Motor Company has sold Volvo to Geely, a Chinese automaker. Volvo had been losing money for quite some time, officially put on the market by Ford in 2008. Geely took Volvo for $1.8 billion. Ford bought Volvo in 1999 for $6.8 billion, so the deal represents a significant loss. Ford hopes to focus on their core brands.

Volvo has not turned a profit since 2005.

Volvo will give Geely a foothold in the European market.

Cold War A-brewing

Google has done it. They announced they are no longer censoring search results in China. China’s next move will be to block all of Google’s efforts from the country.

Google is assured their actions are legal. Google believes removing the censors was in its best interest.

Google is the number one search engine in the world, but is second in the Chinese market to Baidu.com. (Author’s note: I looked up that statistic on Google while using Google Chrome).

You can read more about Google’s fight with China here or there.

Let me know what you think.

China vs. Google

Google is a shining torch burning on the field of capitalism. What started off as a funny word and search engine has become an empire. Google books preserves books that may otherwise be lost. For free. Google Chrome, fast becoming a popular web browser, is now available. For free. Google is number four on Fortune 500’s list of the best companies to work for.

Google has changed the way Americans think. Have you googled yourself lately? You may be surprised at what you find.

But, trouble is brewing for Google. Or, perhaps, for China.

For a time, Google was happy to comply with the strict regulations of the Chinese government. They are a company operating within China, after all. All seemed to be going fine. Google sought a balance with China to offer service while still complying with Chinese demands.

In January, Google detected a cyber attack originating from China in an attempt to hack the e-mail accounts of human rights activists.

Google was not pleased.

Google threatened to exit the country.  China has issued a stern warning to Google that they must comply with their censorship laws.  China’s censorship laws filter out any news stories from the outside. China is behaving just like a typical totalitarian government. But, in the age of the Internet, can they really keep information from the people?

All that is required of China is to no longer allow Google to operate in China. In America, the absence of Google would be a terrible blow to our Internet interaction, but, perhaps, not so much in China. Google is not the most popular search engine in China.

The Cold War is back. Google finds itself on the brink of a war of ideals. Is it this company’s duty to carry capitalism’s flag?

Most importantly, Google would fight a fight that only Google can. Google is that company, that started out as a small idea and flourished into a giant of industry. Google is fighting for freedom of information. Google has become a beacon of hope, a symbol of freedom.

You go, Google.