US steel and textile producers on Friday urged US President Barack Obama’s administration to get tough with China over its currency practices, while other groups said Beijing was dragging its feet on promised trade reforms.
“The US government should cite China as a currency manipulator and should support legislation that allows US industry to defend itself and its workers against this predatory practice,” said Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile Organization.
He made the remarks at an Obama administration hearing chaired by the US Trade Representative’s office to examine how well China is complying with the market-opening commitments it made when it joined the WTO in 2001.
Obama disappointed manufacturing and labor groups in April when he decided against labeling China a currency manipulator, after indicating during last year’s campaign that he would take that step.
The US Treasury Department will have its second chance to rule on the issue on Oct. 15, when the semi-annual report on the exchange rate practices of major US trading partners once again comes due.
Barry Solarz, vice president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, said Obama should “take far more aggressive action” against China by declaring currency manipulation an “actionable” subsidy under US trade laws.
It should also “pursue legal action in the WTO to protect US rights,” Solarz said.
The US Chamber of Commerce said Washington should steer clear of any action on Chinese currency that violates WTO rules or invites Chinese retaliation.
But “China should move as quickly as possible to a system that allows market forces to determine the exchange rate” of its currency, said Jeremie Waterman, the business group’s senior director for China.
Waterman also expressed concern that there “are growing indications that China’s movement toward a market economy has stalled,” but said Washington and Beijing need to do more to fight protectionist impulses at home.
Robert Vastine, president of the Coalition of Service Industries, said China had yet to implement many of its WTO obligations in areas ranging from insurance to express delivery, and its passage of a postal law that discriminates against US businesses is “particularly troubling.”
There also is “ample evidence of China’s continuing failure to comply with its IPR [intellectual property rights] and market access commitments in the WTO,” Michael Schlesinger said on behalf of the International Intellectual Property Alliance.
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