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US Senators to unveil new China bill

(Reuters/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-03-22 08:06

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised March 14, after the conclusion of the annual session of the parliament, the market will play a greater role in setting exchange rates, but ruled out any further one-off revaluation through administrative measures.

China is working to move toward a freely traded currency, Wu Xiaoling, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, told reporters in Beijing on March 18.

"They should understand that China is doing its best," Wu said. "China's economic restructuring needs a process."

The authors of the US tariff legislation -- Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat -- are currently in Beijing to learn first hand what China intends to do on the currency issue.

Business groups have warned the Graham-Schumer could roil relations with the United States' third largest trading partner and put Washington in violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

But with congressional elections looming in November, many lawmakers are anxious to vote for a measure that makes them look tough on China. The Grassley-Baucus bill is expected to give senators that chance without running afoul of the WTO.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed its own China bill last year addressing a major concern of U.S. manufacturers by allowing the Commerce Department to impose countervailing duties on "subsidized" Chinese exports.

The House bill also requires the Bush administration to more vigorously monitor and enforce China's compliance with WTO rules on issues ranging from the piracy and counterfeiting of American goods to Beijing's commitments to open its markets to more foreign goods.