Grassley to Administration: Address currency manipulation

Grassley-090507-18363- 0032From Press Release

 

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is part of a bipartisan group of senators urging United States Trade Representative Michael Froman and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to more aggressively address currency issues in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. In a letter to Froman and Lew, Grassley and his fellow senators requested an update on the Administration’s efforts to address currency issues and reiterated concerns regarding foreign countries devaluing their currency.

“As you know, we have long been concerned about currency issues, which directly impact the competitiveness of workers in our states and across the country.  However, recently China devalued its currency by over 4 percent,” Grassley and colleagues including Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) wrote.

“We fear these recent currency interventions could lead to a pattern of competitive devaluation within the Asia-Pacific that could hurt U.S. workers and exports for years to come,” they continued.

The senators have repeatedly called for TPP negotiations to include strong provisions that address currency manipulation, which hurts U.S. auto exports and workers. Along with Grassley, Portman and Brown, Tuesday’s letter was also signed by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Burr (R-NC) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

The full text of the letter can be found here.