US Senate to go ahead with ‘China bill’

To punish China over its alleged currency manipulation:

US: The US Senate will move forward next week with a bill to punish China over its alleged currency manipulation, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday, predicting the legislation will pass.

“China trade is a jobs bill that’s been long, long overdue. It’s a bipartisan bill and I feel very comfortable we’re going to pass it,” Reid told reporters at a press conference.

Reid said that “next week” the Democratic-led chamber will “start our work on trade matters” including the legislation on China’s currency, though it was unclear when the bill would come to a final vote.

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.

Senators unveiled the bill last week amid deep anger at stubbornly high US unemployment of over nine percent, with the sour economy the top issue on voters’ minds as the race to the November 2012 elections heated up.

The bill, which has support from several key Democrats and 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.

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. Washington, Tuesday, AFP