US demands Chinese action on yuan

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123825§ionid=3510213


A top US lawmaker has threatened China with trade measures by Washington if Beijing does not raise the value of its currency yuan.

Amid speculations about an ensuing trade war, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin says the Obama administration will try to gain global support to pressure China to revalue its currency.

"If it doesn't work, the US will act. I have no doubt about it. I think the administration will act and I think the Congress will act," the Democratic congressman from Michigan said on Monday.

The warning came a weak after Chinese President Hu Jintao told President Barack Obama that the value of the yuan will neither balance Sino-US trade, nor solve America's unemployment problem. Hu reiterated that China will firmly stick to its own path for yuan's reform.

American industry groups have filed a petition saying China is subsidizing its aluminum exporters by depreciating its currency.

They have asked for steep duties on Chinese imports as well, although the US Commerce Department has declined to probe into similar complaints in 10 previous cases.

The Department says it was nearing a decision on Chinese currency probe.

Levin also gave China an ultimatum to increase the value of its currency before the Group of 20 summit meeting in Canada at the end of June or face further measures.

Beijing has frozen the yuan's exchange rate against the dollar since mid-2008.

Beijing's decision not to deviate from its strategy comes in response to market volatility experienced during the global financial crisis and ongoing uncertainty in international markets.