House panel sends Chinese currency measure to House vote

Measure to increase Chinese currency will be put into vote

A measure that will exert more pressure on China to increase the yuan's value will be voted upon by the House next week after it was endorsed by the House Ways and Means Committee, as both parties expressed disappointment over the Chinese currency's slow appreciation.

“We cannot wait any longer to level the playing field for U.S. businesses and protect American manufacturing jobs,” Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said.

The bill was approved by the panel, with Republican Dave Camp of Michigan siding with Democrats to support the measure, and will be subject to a vote by the full House on September 29, according to committee chairman Democrat Sander Levin of Michigan.

If passed, the bill would allow businesses to ask for higher duties on Chinese imports to compensate for the impact of the soft currency.

The administration has not taken an official stance on the matter, says Treasury Department spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth.

During the first seven months of 2010, the U.S. trade deficit with China expanded to $145 billion, up from $123 billion for the same period in 2009. The ballooning deficit, persistently high unemployment, and surveys saying Democrats may lose some seats in Congress after the upcoming mid-term elections added support for the legislation, which has been debated for 5 years.

Since June 19, the Chinese currency has gained 2 percent against the greenback, after China's central bank said that it would allow the yuan to be more flexible.

But Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told the House panel last week that the yuan's pace of appreciation is too slow and “inadequate.”

Posted by James Fried on Sunday September 26 2010, 9:39 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0