Lawmakers Growl at China, Obama

China’s latest round of currency manipulation has brought stern reactions from Senate Finance Committee Republicans.

China lowered the value of its yuan by about 2 percent, creating fresh fears of a new trade war and calls for the Obama administration to adopt a harder line against the country already suspected of a recent massive hack into U.S. computer systems.

The move also came at a particularly critical time, just as final talks are getting underway to wrap up the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty and only weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the U.S. for the first time.

Among the Republican candidates running for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, adversaries Donald Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina gave similar comments blasting China’s move. Trump called the news “devastating” to the U.S., while Graham accused China of “a long history of cheating.”

Members of both parties are hopping mad, accusing China of continuing a longstanding, deceitful practice of currency manipulation in its commerce with the U.S.

Members of both parties are hopping mad, accusing China of continuing a longstanding, deceitful practice of currency manipulation in its commerce with the U.S.

“This is just the latest example, and it’s past the time to do something about it,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement. “Administrations under both Democrat and Republican presidents have been too timid about taking action, and China has taken advantage in the meantime.”

Grassley, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said the Obama administration “ought to consider everything at its disposal to address China’s currency manipulation … If executive branch solutions aren’t the answer, the administration ought to explain why not and help Congress with legislation.”

Grassley was among several senators who said U.S. negotiators should use the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty to include measures that could be taken against trading countries that manipulate their currencies to gain advantage.

Besides roiling the U.S. stock market as well as markets overseas, a devalued yuan is worrisome in the U.S. because it could make American exports less attractive to Chinese buyers. Likewise, it could lower the prices of Chinese imports for American buyers, giving China an unfair trade advantage.

Grassley said the Obama administration “ought to consider everything at its disposal to address China’s currency manipulation.”

Another top member of the Finance Committee, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, issued a blistering statement also blaming China’s move on the Obama administration.

Portman said he and other senators of both parties took particular pains to insert provisions into the Trade Promotion Authority legislation to explicitly direct U.S. negotiators to focus on currency manipulators. Tariffs can be imposed on Chinese imports, for example, to balance the scales.

“The administration’s refusal to take on China’s currency manipulation is enabling Chinese workers to have an unfair advantage over Ohio workers,” Portman said. “We cannot afford to sit idly by as China refuses to play by the rules; any negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership must prioritize combatting currency manipulation by our foreign competitors.”

Portman and seven other members of the Senate Finance Committee, including five Democrats, sent a letter to the administration in July warning of just such a move as China’s, and urging retaliation.

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