China said yesterday it “firmly opposed” a US Senate bill aimed at punishing Beijing for its alleged currency manipulation, which is expected to make its final passage later this week.
The bill — which comes 13 months ahead of US elections in which high unemployment is likely to be an issue — sets the stage for retaliatory duties on Chinese goods if Beijing is found to keep its currency artificially cheap.
“This bill uses so-called ‘currency imbalances’ as an excuse, escalates the issue of the exchange rate, implements protectionist measures ... and seriously interferes with Sino-US trade ties,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said.
“China firmly opposes this,” he added in a statement.
The legislation — backed by both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress, while opposed by Beijing and US business groups — cleared a procedural hurdle by a 79-19 vote on Monday, with final passage expected this week.
“The longer we wait, the weaker America gets,” said US Senator Chuck Schumer, who dismissed talk of escalating Sino-US tensions and added: “We’re already in a trade war.”
The US has accused China of undervaluing its yuan to keep the price of manufactured goods for export artificially low. However, China has let the yuan rise against the US dollar as it faces high inflation at home.
China’s central bank expressed “regret” at the bill, which would empower US businesses and in some cases labor unions to trigger a US Department of Commerce investigation into alleged currency manipulation.
“We think there are many reasons for global imbalances and the yuan exchange rate is not the main reason for the Sino-US trade imbalance,” it said in a statement.
“The differences in Chinese and US investment and trade structures, in deposit and consumer rates ... and the unreasonable global currency system may be even more important elements than the currency exchange,” it added.
Ma said China urged the US to abandon its “protectionism” and “not to politicize trade issues.”
He also called on Washington to “create a favorable environment for the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, using concrete actions.”
The bill rewrites the law to make it harder for the US Department of Treasury to stop short of declaring China a currency manipulator and makes manipulation punishable with duties on an offending country’s goods.
It also seeks to restrict the White House’s ability to overrule the imposition of sanctions.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said US senators had “violated internationally accepted regulations by allowing a debate that seeks duties on Chinese imports,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Shen Danyang (沈丹陽) said the yuan exchange rate was not to blame for the current trade imbalance between China and the US.
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