U.S. lawmakers urge Obama administration to take action on China's currency policy

A bipartisan group of 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, urging the Obama administration to launch a variety of actions against China's currency policy. action. The letter states that the impact of China's currency manipulation on the U.S. economy cannot be underestimated. Maintaining its undervalued exchange rate amounts to subsidizing Chinese companies and putting competing foreign companies at an unfair disadvantage. The letter also urged Geithner to list China as a currency manipulator in next month's semi-annual exchange rate report, and said Locke should use the currency manipulation as an excuse to have the Commerce Department impose countervailing duties on Chinese imports. It is understood that the U.S. House of Representatives Finance Committee will hold a hearing on March 24 to examine the impact of China’s exchange rate policy on the recovery of the U.S. and global economies, as well as U.S. employment, and will consider taking measures to address the issue.