Foreign exporters bemoan currency rates

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The same weak dollar that is giving the U.S. economy a boost is causing consternation abroad, foreign exporters say.

The dollar has dropped 18 percent against the euro in about a year and more that 40 percent against the Australian dollar, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

As the dollar declines, so does the price of U.S. goods abroad. Concurrently, imports become more expensive in the United States.

"We're losing 15 percent a year (in revenue) because of the exchange rate," said Jose Bordillo, director general of a major Spanish olive exporter.

"The United States has borrowed so much from foreigners. They've got a rising budget deficit and few ways to bring it under control that investors see as viable," said HSBC economist Stephen King in London.

While the dollar has fallen, with the exception of China, U.S. trade deficits with other countries have declined.

The Chinese yuan is closely tied to the fate of the U.S. dollar. That means the yuan has also declined, and countries other than the United States have found their goods less competitive in China.

"If the dollar is going down this way, it is because that is what the Americans want," economic analyst Yves de Kerdrel in France wrote this week.