Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department delayed publication of its semi-annual report on currency. The three-month rollback was intended to give China an opportunity to demonstrate progress on adjusting its undervalued currency, the Yuan.
This grace period will likely prove fruitless, noting Beijing's subsequent intrasigence on the issue.
Because Beijing is unwilling to make an effort, Rob Scott at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says that Congress must proceed with strong, concerted action:
The failure of the Treasury and the president to act does not prevent other policy makers from doing something to stop currency manipulation. Congress should immediately pass legislation to bypass the failed Treasury foreign exchange review process, require the Treasury secretary to begin negotiations with these countries, and impose tariffs of at least 25% within 90 days if any country fails to revalue when identified by the Treasury as a currency manipulator.
Scott believes that addressing the currency peg could significantly rebalance U.S. trade: "Ending China’s currency manipulation could help create at least 1 million U.S. jobs in the next few years."
Read Scott's full report on why it's time to take action on China's currency manipulation.
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