We thought this time might be different.
Four days late and with little fanfare, the Treasury Department released its semi-annual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies on Monday. And all we got were some words.
It reads:
While China has made real progress, with its real effective exchange rate appreciating meaningfully over the past six months, these factors indicate an RMB exchange rate that remains significantly undervalued.
Significantly undervalued? Yeah, that falls short of naming China a currency manipulator.
Back in August, China’s government intervened in the market to devalue the yuan. The three-day devaluation wiped out four years of yuan appreciation and sent a shock through global markets, after which Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said, "We're going to hold China accountable on currency."
But he didn’t – inspiring little confidence in the Obama administration’s other currency efforts, as AAM President Scott Paul said:
By passing the buck yet again, the Treasury Department is likely eroding confidence that any currency half-measure agreed to as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal will be aggressively implemented.
It's a clear signal that Congress needs to pass the customs and trade enforcement bill, and in particular the bipartisan Senate provision that would strengthen domestic trade laws and our response to currency manipulation.
We hope Congress takes real action, because the administration clearly isn’t up to the task. American manufacturing jobs are on the line.