Schumer Says China’s Weak Yuan Should Prompt U.S. Trade Duties

[DJ13]

February 25, 2010, 5:36 PM EST

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese exporters should be hit with stiffer U.S. tariffs to compensate for the unfair advantage they get from an undervalued currency, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and 14 colleagues said yesterday.

The bipartisan group of senators wrote Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, urging him to side with NewPage Corp.’s contention that glossy paper imports from China are being subsidized by China’s intervention in its currency market. A finding in that case could influence future complaints by other U.S. manufacturers, they said.

“China’s mercantilist policies are undermining the health of many U.S. industries,” the lawmakers said in a letter. “There can be no doubt that China’s policy of large-scale intervention in the exchange markets and the significant undervaluation of its currency acts as a subsidy to Chinese exports.”

Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, were sponsors of a measure that would have slapped duties of 27.5 percent on all imports to compensate for the advantage they said China’s weak yuan gives exports. They dropped that proposal in 2006 after analysts said it would violate the terms of the World Trade Organization......

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-25/schumer-says-china-s-weak-yuan-should-prompt-u-s-trade-duties.html