US lawmakers target China with new currency bill

To put an end to China's 'economic murder' of US jobs:

US: US senators unveiled legislation Thursday to punish China over its alleged currency manipulation, promising angry American voters to put an end to Beijing's "economic murder" of US jobs.

The measure aims to make it harder for the US Treasury Department to avoid labeling Beijing a currency cheat, triggering various sanctions, while making it easier for US companies to seek retaliatory tariffs on Chinese goods.

China's leaders "get away with economic murder" by keeping the yuan, and thereby the country's exports, artificially cheap, charged Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, a key backer of the bill and similar efforts in past years.

Schumer, his party's number three in the Senate, said US President Barack Obama opposed the measure but predicted "China will change its own behavior once this bill passes the Senate" in a vote expected in October.

The bill, which had support from several Republicans, would empower US businesses and, in some cases, labor unions to trigger a US Commerce Department investigation into alleged currency manipulation.

It also rewrites the law to make it harder for the US Treasury Department to stop short of declaring China a currency manipulator and makes manipulation punishable with countervailing duties on the offending country's goods.

And the bill aims to restrict the White House's ability to waive the resulting sanctions, notably by requiring reports to Congress detailing how the adverse of taking action outweigh the benefits. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who led the effort, said currency manipulation "is not competing, it's cheating" and promised the bill would mean "no more foot-dragging by our government" on confronting China.

But the bill's fate is unclear: Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have no plans to bring similar measures to votes in that chamber, according to a leadership aide.

AFP