Portman presses for currency talk with China’s leader

Republican Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) on Wednesday once again called on the White House to address China’s currency fluctuations during a summit set for later this week.

President Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping are slated to meet on Friday at the White House where the leaders of the world’s two largest economies will discuss a vast number of prickly issues from cyber security to climate change, human rights and economic growth.

{mosads}”Just last month, China yet again lowered the value of its currency, another harsh reminder that we cannot afford to sit idly by as China refuses to play by the rules,” Portman said in a statement.

“I urge President Obama to address this issue during President Xi’s visit and will continue my push to ensure foreign competitors are playing by the rules.”

On Tuesday night, Xi told 650 business executives in Seattle that China won’t deliberately lower the value of its currency to boost exports and grow its slowing economy, according to news reports. 

He said that “given the economic and financial situation at home and abroad” there is no reason to allow the yuan to depreciate further.

In August, the value of the China’s currency fell quickly — by about 3 percent — against the dollar after the nation’s central bank decided to let market forces determine its value, a move that sent shockwaves through global financial markets. 

Xi acknowledged that the United States and China must work together to avoid any conflicts that might “lead to disaster for both countries and the world at large.”

“We’re against competitive depreciation or currency war,” he told business leaders, according to news reports. 

But there is plenty of concern in Congress and within the Obama administration, which has methodically prodded China to let the value of its currency gradually rise along with its economic expansion.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Tuesday that China has committed to increasing the transparency of its foreign-exchange reserves and exchange rate by following the International Monetary Fund’s standard by year’s end.

Earlier this month, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that China would “never resort to a currency war,” Lew said a Tuesday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Lew said that China also reaffirmed that they would not engage in a “competitive devaluation of its currency” at a G-20 meeting in Turkey earlier this month.

“Chinese officials also need to demonstrate their intent to allow the yuan to be subject to upward pressure that would drive the currency up, not just down,” Lew wrote. 

Last week, Portman and fellow Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) led a bipartisan group of senators in urging Lew and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to more aggressively address currency issues in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

Portman teamed up with Brown and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and pushed to get a requirement in trade promotion authority legislation that would require the issue to be discussed in trade talks.

There has been some talk around the TPP that leaders may create a forum to discuss concerns about currency manipulation.