The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released its 'Semi-Annual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies.' The report did not cite China for currency manipulation.
Commented Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul:
“Today’s Treasury report marks the eleventh consecutive pass for China on its currency manipulation. That’s not a surprise. But it is surprising that the decision comes in the wake of China’s moves to both devalue the yuan in the short term and dramatically slow its appreciation over the past year.
“While candidate Obama mocked the Bush administration approach on China’s currency policy, the yuan’s rise has actually slowed considerably since 2010 when compared with 2005 to 2008, its last period of valuation. And our trade deficit with China is far higher now than it ever was during the Bush years.
“I am not suggesting President Bush deserves credit for a slower rate of appreciation. But I am saying that President Obama’s approach to this ongoing problem has been completely inadequate, and that it has cost American jobs.
“It’s disappointing, too, that Congress has done nothing to respond to China’s cheating on currency, this year or last. But in the absence of congressional action, the president, with his ‘pen and phone’ tools, could do a lot. And he hasn’t. Ending currency manipulation could create millions of jobs in the U.S., but the Administration struck out today when given the chance to help America’s workers.”
Additional information:
• The U.S. goods trade deficit with China reached a record high of $318 billion in 2013.
• Ending global currency manipulation could create up to 5.8 million U.S. jobs.
Read Paul's recent op-ed in Politico on the need to hold China accountable for currency manipulation.