http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/02/02/senators_reviving_bill_slapping_duties_on_china/Senators Reviving Bill Slapping Duties on China
February 2, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators plan to reintroduce a bill giving China six months to raise the value of its currency or face a possible 27.5-percent duty on exports to the United States, congressional aides said on Wednesday. The moves reflects frustration in Congress that China has not moved to a market-based exchange rate despite more than a year of pressure by the Bush administration.
Manufacturers blame Beijing's decade-old practice of pegging its yuan at 8.28 to the dollar for a big chunk of the record U.S. trade deficit with China, which could exceed $160 billion when final figures for 2004 are in. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, offered a similar measure last year.
But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, blocked a Senate vote on the bill by promising to support congressional hearings "at the appropriate time" if China did not change its exchange rate. Schumer and Graham have scheduled a press conference on Thursday to discuss their bill, which would give President Bush more authority to delay imposing the tariffs than the previous version, a Schumer aide said.
The senators also are expected to testify on Thursday before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which is holding two days of hearings on Chinese trade. The commission, which takes a hard line toward China, released a report earlier this month that estimated the United States had lost 1.5 million jobs to China from 1989-2003.
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