The apparent toughening of American trade policy and the implicit threat of further dollar devaluation remain.

Another trade issue not addressed by dollar devaluation: the need to sharpen our global competitiveness.

"So now it seems we are going to try some dollar devaluation to get things going here," he said.

Indeed, it would be a mistake to base our hopes for a lower trade deficit solely on dollar devaluations and further growth in exports.

Some analysts believe that as much as $25 of the June 2008 prices around $140 were due to dollar devaluation.

No other sector is likely to be as responsive to dollar devaluation.

The bad news is that the preconditions are falling in place for another dollar devaluation.

The dollar devaluation over the last two years, for example, has contributed strongly to profit growth in 1987.

Some economists argued that dollar devaluation is incapable of solving America's trade deficit.

The pressure from American manufacturers for dollar devaluation is also diluted.