US bill aims to shake China off the peg

Asia Times ^ | 2/4/2005

[worldclass]

If China does not ease controls on its currency within six months, it will face a 27.5% tariff on all exports to the US under legislation to be introduced in the Senate on Friday. According to Wes Hickman, a spokesman for Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Caroline Republican who is sponsoring the bill, along with Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, the bill, if approved, will require China to "abide by international trade agreements and stop manipulating the value of the yuan".

The Chinese peg, which keeps the yuan undervalued against the dollar by 15-40%, depending on who makes the estimates, is one of the main reasons behind the record US trade deficit with China, the commission noted last year.

[worldclass]

This would be encouraging if I thought that Congress had the balls to actually do it.

[BullDog108]

No kidding. One can dream, huh?

[JFK_Lib]

No way this bill passes.

Anyone see how googoo eyed Gates was with Hu?

Gates has a little bit more pull than the average Joe Six pack who is losing his job when the plant goes to the Chicoms.

[Antoninus]

About f***n' time.

[Enterprise]

"If China does not ease controls on its currency within six months"

Naw, give 'em six hours after the President signs it.

[samson1097]

The Chinese central bank refused to comment on the bill. A leading Chinese government economist told Bloomberg that China wouldn't be swayed into changing its currency policy. "This kind of bill comes up every year and will keep being raised in the future," said Zhu Baoliang, chief economist at the State Information Center, a research group under China's top economic planning agency. "I don't think Chinese government officials will change their stance."

This is what I'm afraid will happen

[garyb]

...the bill, if approved, will require China to "abide by international trade agreements and stop manipulating the value of the yuan".

The problem is not that China is manipulating the value of the yuan, the problem is that we are manipulating (devaluing) the value of the USD. They are countering our falling dollar by having their currency fall at the same rate.

[samson1097]

The yuan is pegged at at 8.27 to the US dollar. They didn't do it in response to the falling dollar.

[HolgerDansk]

There was a recent RAND report which proclaimed that the peg was *the* primary cause of the trade deficit.

[MD_Willington_1976]

What no more shoddy cheap crap at Waltons eastern trading post (Walmart)..now it will be expensive crap...

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

I think we've all had enough crap...haha

[steveegg]

IF this bill passes (which I have my doubts about), here's the future headline: "WTO ruling against US attempt to save its economy allows world to slap 82.5% tariff on US goods" (I'll admit, I used my own language instead of the LeftStreamMedia's :-)

[B4Ranch]

and it would start a war.........which we don't have the troops to win!

http://www.sentryoveramerica.com/24_Decline_of_Military_support_document_SOA.htm

[worldclass]

The would at most attack Taiwan. But they will eventually gobble them up anyway. The longer we wait, the worse it will get.

[steveegg]

Thread with a partial text of the bill here

[Clintonfatigued]

I agree, the free traitors control both political parties.

[familyop]

Yes. I wish the Fed would also lower the rate again and keep it down.

Change is rough, sometimes, but a lower dollar is something that must and will happen one way or the other.