Crisis does not affect trade

Crisis does not affect trade

WASHINGTON (AFP): The financial crisis in Southeast Asia has not yet had any impact on the region's trade, U.S. Trade Representatives Charlene Barshefsky said Friday.

Barshefsky, however, raised the possibility that Asian exports to the United States may increase because of a devaluation in local currencies.

"There is speculation that Asian devaluations will increase exports," she said. "The impact of that could also lead to reductions in imports."

Brashefsky suggested that the countries in the region, facing a weakening economy, could instigate the currency devaluations themselves in order to generate more export revenue.

According to statistics given to a congressional committee by federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, U.S. products counted for only four percent of total imports by Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, the four countries at ground zero of the Southeast Asian financial crisis.

U.S. products comprised 12 percent of the imports by Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, the countries most recently impacted in the crisis.