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U.S. representatives ask Bush to act on China's currency policy

A bipartisan group of 87 members of congress signed and delivered a letter to the White House August 10 that urges President Bush to address promptly China's unfair and discriminatory undervalued currency, according to a spokesman for a coalition that has been pushing for reform of China's monetary policy.

"By the deliberate under valuation of its currency, China skews the prices for its goods in the global market place, especially disadvantaging U.S. producers," said Skip Hartquist, counsel to the Fair Currency Alliance (FCA). "FCA is grateful that so many representatives acted quickly in alerting the president of their strong concerns and the urgency of the situation. We are particularly grateful to Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers (R) for his leadership in championing this issue within Congress and with the administration."

The letter expressed disappointment that the administration, while historically criticizing China's policy of under valuing its currency against the dollar, did not support the filing of an unfair trade petition prepared on behalf of the FCA. "We are concerned that your administration's position on this draft petition signaled to China that resolution of this issue is not an immediate priority of this nation," the letter stated. The FCA is pleased that the bipartisan group is urging the president "?to continue to press China for meaningful and expeditious currency reform."

FCA, a coalition of U.S. industrial, service, agricultural, and labor associations, was created to educate policymakers and the consuming public on the downstream, injurious impact that the tightly controlled and substantially undervalued Chinese currency has on U.S. commerce and the global economy.