Labor & Employment Law

Treasury?s Refusal to Call China on Manipulation Draws Bipartisan Ire

By James Parks

The Treasury Department’s announcement that it will not designate China a currency manipulator ignores the overwhelming evidence that the Chinese government has systematically kept the renminbi undervalued, causing the U.S. trade deficit to skyrocket and contributing to the loss of millions of jobs, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.

Trumka is calling on Congress to act quickly to pass S. 3134, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010, ?which would give our government the tools and resolve it needs to address currency manipulation.” A bipartisan group of senators is considering attaching  the bill to moving legislation at anytime. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), introduced the bill.

At a time when our economy is more than 10 million jobs short of pre-recession unemployment levels, and when we are focused on boosting exports to create jobs, we simply cannot afford to look the other way as the Chinese government continues to manipulate its currency for an unfair trade advantage.

Read Trumka?s full statement here.

Said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), ?Claiming China doesn’t manipulate its currency makes about as much sense as saying LeBron James doesn’t play basketball.?

It’s clear that China’s announcement before the G-20 last month was nothing more than a charade, but the administration seems to have fallen for this rather unbelievable promise.

ABC News today also reported that congressional Republicans are blasting the Treasury decision, with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) saying, ?If the President continues to avoid acknowledging China?s currency manipulation and fails to address it in a meaningful way, Congress will have to act.”

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on July 09, 2010 (boomark / email).