WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - China needs to raise the value of its currency by a 'significant' amount or the United States will take action, a top U.S. lawmaker said on Monday in the latest sign that tensions on the yuan remain high.
'I think 2 to 3 percent over a year would be totally unsatisfactory,' House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin said, responding to a market estimate about the size of a possible move.
'I think it has be significant. It doesn't have to be all at once. But there has to be clear pattern of revaluation. A clear path,' Levin told the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit.
Levin, whose committee has jurisdiction over tax and trade issues, said he remained hopeful that U.S.-led multilateral pressure on China would yield good results by the Group of 20 major economies summit meeting in late June.
If not, the United States has various options for exerting pressure on China, such as allowing companies to request the Commerce Department impose 'countervailing duties' against China's exchange rate, Levin said.
Another possibility would be filing a trade complaint at the World Trade Organization, Levin said.
The veteran lawmaker who played a key role in congressional approval of 'permanent normal trade relations' for China a decade ago, resisted saying how much Beijing needed to raise the value of its yuan currency to satisfy the United States.
'I think it has be many times 2 to 3 percent over a year to have an impact,' Levin said, noting current estimates of how China's currency is undervalued range from 15 percent to 40 percent.
((Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Gary Crosse))
((doug.palmer@thomsonreuters.com; +1-202-898-8341; Reuters Messaging: doug.palmer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: USA CHINA/CURRENCY (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News: http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'I think 2 to 3 percent over a year would be totally unsatisfactory,' House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin said, responding to a market estimate about the size of a possible move.
'I think it has be significant. It doesn't have to be all at once. But there has to be clear pattern of revaluation. A clear path,' Levin told the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit.
Levin, whose committee has jurisdiction over tax and trade issues, said he remained hopeful that U.S.-led multilateral pressure on China would yield good results by the Group of 20 major economies summit meeting in late June.
If not, the United States has various options for exerting pressure on China, such as allowing companies to request the Commerce Department impose 'countervailing duties' against China's exchange rate, Levin said.
Another possibility would be filing a trade complaint at the World Trade Organization, Levin said.
The veteran lawmaker who played a key role in congressional approval of 'permanent normal trade relations' for China a decade ago, resisted saying how much Beijing needed to raise the value of its yuan currency to satisfy the United States.
'I think it has be many times 2 to 3 percent over a year to have an impact,' Levin said, noting current estimates of how China's currency is undervalued range from 15 percent to 40 percent.
((Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Gary Crosse))
((doug.palmer@thomsonreuters.com; +1-202-898-8341; Reuters Messaging: doug.palmer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: USA CHINA/CURRENCY (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News: http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.