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Congress addresses Chinese currency manipulation
Senate takes up bill to punish China for manipulating currency
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After years of trying, Congress is taking another stab at
retaliating against what many see as Chinese manipulation of its currency
to make its exports to the United States cheaper and U.S. goods more
expensive in China.
The Senate is expected to take up legislation Monday that would impose
higher U.S. duties on Chinese products to offset the perceived advantage
that critics say China gets by undervaluing its currency.
It's a political given here that China's economic policy has damaged
American manufacturers and taken away American jobs.
Beijing denies that its exchange rate is responsible for the huge trade
deficit that the United States has with China, and it's not clear that U.S.
lawmakers have the political will to follow through.
The Senate bill has bipartisan support and is expected to clear a procedural
hurdle Monday evening. But intense lobbying against it by American-based
multinational corporations and their trade associations could spell trouble
for the legislation.
In addition, the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before
it, doesn't like the bill, saying quiet diplomacy is a better way to
influence Chinese policy and warning that overt penalties could lead to a
destructive trade fight.
Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., along with others,
have tried for at least six years to pass legislation making it easier to
impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods. That would help compensate for what
they say is Beijing's effort to keep its currency, the yuan, undervalued
against the dollar.
Under U.S. pressure, China did take steps last year that allowed for some
flexibility in the exchange rate. But the yuan has risen only a few
percentage points since then, and economists say it is still undervalued
against the dollar by as much as 40 percent.
Schumer and others say that's a major reason that some 2 million U.S. jobs
have been lost to Chinese competitors in the past decade and that the U.S.
trade deficit with China last year hit a record $273 billion, accounting for
43 percent of the entire U.S. trade gap.
"They get away with economic murder and thus far our country has just said,
`Oh, we don't care,'" Schumer said. "This legislation will send a huge shot
across China's bow."
Among Republicans, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has said he would
penalize China for keeping its currency artificially low.
The Senate bill, which does not specifically mention China, has two main
components:
--Up to now, the Treasury Department has had to declare that a country was
willfully manipulating its currency to trigger a response, which is
something the Bush and Obama administrations have avoided doing. The
legislation would require Treasury to determine only that another country's
currency is misaligned, then give its government 90 days to make corrections
before countervailing duties are imposed.
--The bill makes it easier for specific industries to petition the Commerce
Department for redress under claims that the misaligned currency of China or
another country amounts to an export subsidy. That more narrowly focused
provision passed the House last September on a 348-79 vote. The last
Congress, however, ended before the Senate could take it up.
Supporters point to studies by the Peterson Institute for International
Economics that say a 20 percent appreciation of the yuan would reduce the U.
S. trade deficit by up to $120 billion and create a half-million U.S. jobs.
The more liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that a 28.5 percent
appreciation would create more than 2 million jobs.
Opponents of the bill, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the
Business Roundtable, whose members do business overseas, paint a different
picture.
A letter to Senate leaders from more than 50 such groups warned that
unilateral action against China would likely result in retaliation against U
.S. exports to China, possibly violate World Trade Organization rules and do
little to create U.S. jobs because other low-cost manufacturing countries
would take up the slack if Chinese goods became more expensive.
There's also concern that a trade war with China would remove incentives for
China to improve its record on intellectual property rights or cooperate in
easing tensions with North Korea. The conservative Club for Growth, which
holds sway among many Republicans, opposes the Senate bill, saying it would
raise prices for American consumers.
China denies that the exchange rate is the cause of the huge trade imbalance
, saying that the United States could help itself by lifting a ban on sales
of high technology goods.
White House press secretary Jay Carney would only say that the
administration is reviewing the Senate bill. If the measure does make it
through the Senate, it faces an uncertain future in the House.
Senate takes up bill to punish China for manipulating currency
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After years of trying, Congress is taking another stab at
retaliating against what many see as Chinese manipulation of its currency
to make its exports to the United States cheaper and U.S. goods more
expensive in China.
The Senate is expected to take up legislation Monday that would impose
higher U.S. duties on Chinese products to offset the perceived advantage
that critics say China gets by undervaluing its currency.
It's a political given here that China's economic policy has damaged
American manufacturers and taken away American jobs.
Beijing denies that its exchange rate is responsible for the huge trade
deficit that the United States has with China, and it's not clear that U.S.
lawmakers have the political will to follow through.
The Senate bill has bipartisan support and is expected to clear a procedural
hurdle Monday evening. But intense lobbying against it by American-based
multinational corporations and their trade associations could spell trouble
for the legislation.
In addition, the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before
it, doesn't like the bill, saying quiet diplomacy is a better way to
influence Chinese policy and warning that overt penalties could lead to a
destructive trade fight.
Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., along with others,
have tried for at least six years to pass legislation making it easier to
impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods. That would help compensate for what
they say is Beijing's effort to keep its currency, the yuan, undervalued
against the dollar.
Under U.S. pressure, China did take steps last year that allowed for some
flexibility in the exchange rate. But the yuan has risen only a few
percentage points since then, and economists say it is still undervalued
against the dollar by as much as 40 percent.
Schumer and others say that's a major reason that some 2 million U.S. jobs
have been lost to Chinese competitors in the past decade and that the U.S.
trade deficit with China last year hit a record $273 billion, accounting for
43 percent of the entire U.S. trade gap.
"They get away with economic murder and thus far our country has just said,
`Oh, we don't care,'" Schumer said. "This legislation will send a huge shot
across China's bow."
Among Republicans, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has said he would
penalize China for keeping its currency artificially low.
The Senate bill, which does not specifically mention China, has two main
components:
--Up to now, the Treasury Department has had to declare that a country was
willfully manipulating its currency to trigger a response, which is
something the Bush and Obama administrations have avoided doing. The
legislation would require Treasury to determine only that another country's
currency is misaligned, then give its government 90 days to make corrections
before countervailing duties are imposed.
--The bill makes it easier for specific industries to petition the Commerce
Department for redress under claims that the misaligned currency of China or
another country amounts to an export subsidy. That more narrowly focused
provision passed the House last September on a 348-79 vote. The last
Congress, however, ended before the Senate could take it up.
Supporters point to studies by the Peterson Institute for International
Economics that say a 20 percent appreciation of the yuan would reduce the U.
S. trade deficit by up to $120 billion and create a half-million U.S. jobs.
The more liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that a 28.5 percent
appreciation would create more than 2 million jobs.
Opponents of the bill, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the
Business Roundtable, whose members do business overseas, paint a different
picture.
A letter to Senate leaders from more than 50 such groups warned that
unilateral action against China would likely result in retaliation against U
.S. exports to China, possibly violate World Trade Organization rules and do
little to create U.S. jobs because other low-cost manufacturing countries
would take up the slack if Chinese goods became more expensive.
There's also concern that a trade war with China would remove incentives for
China to improve its record on intellectual property rights or cooperate in
easing tensions with North Korea. The conservative Club for Growth, which
holds sway among many Republicans, opposes the Senate bill, saying it would
raise prices for American consumers.
China denies that the exchange rate is the cause of the huge trade imbalance
, saying that the United States could help itself by lifting a ban on sales
of high technology goods.
White House press secretary Jay Carney would only say that the
administration is reviewing the Senate bill. If the measure does make it
through the Senate, it faces an uncertain future in the House.