Saudi Arabia also has a bilateral and multilateral surplus: Americans want its oil, and Saudis want fewer US products. Even in absolute value, Saudi Arabia’s multilateral merchandise surplus of $212 billion in 2008 dwarfs China’s $175 billion surplus; as a percentage of GDP, Saudi Arabia’s current-account surplus, at 11.5% of GDP, is more than twice that of China.
尽管美国政客着眼于对中国的双边贸易逆差——逆差额一直都很大——真正重要的却是多边平衡。在布什当政时，外界开始要求中国调整汇率，那时中国的多边贸易顺差还很小。然而近年来，中国一直拥有大额的多边贸易顺差。