As the issue of China's currency manipulation becomes more and more of a hot topic, one question is continually raised, "is currency manipulation a form of protectionism?"   According to Reuters, Pascal Lamy, the chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said in a statement on Thursday that he is "extremely cautious" in calling currency manipulation a form of protectionism because: 

"Now, true, there is one specific article of GATT-WTO that says that a country should not frustrate its trade-opening commitments in using its exchange rate policies.  "The rule is there. It's never been tested, which is why I'm extremely cautious on this."

The bottom line remains the same, China's grossly undervalued yuan is a form of protectionism that is throwing the entire global economy off-kilter.   Read more here.