US Senators Vow Speedy Push on China Currency Bill

[bobbyw24]

Two U.S. senators vowed on Tuesday to push for action on a bill aimed at pressuring China to strengthen its currency on the eve of a senior Chinese official's visit to Washington to smooth differences.

Arguing that China's exchange rate policies cost American jobs, the lawmakers said such pressure was necessary to make China move.

"My belief is that China will not do anything unless they're required to, and every day we wait is a day we lose wealth, we lose economic advantage, we lose jobs," said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.

China and the United States have locked horns over Google Corp's decision to defy Chinese Internet censorship, U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, Tibet and sanctions against Iran's nuclear program.

Schumer told reporters on conference call that he and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, would push for a vote on the bill by the end of May. The measure would allow U.S. companies to seek duties on Chinese goods to offset China's currency policies.

"If we took the currency issue off the table, we would be more competitive in every sector," added Graham.

They would put forth the controversial legislation regardless of whether President Barack Obama's administration decides to formally label China a currency manipulator in a Treasury Department report due on April 15, said Schumer.

"We intend to move that legislation quickly," he said. "We believe it will pass in a bipartisan way, overwhelmingly."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/36009781

 

[hugolp]

If they want to find a currency manipulator they better look at a marble palace near congress.

 

[Stary Hickory]

Exactly there is nothing that the Chinese can do to their currency to screw with us. We are the ones causing our problems, What kind of rationale do these senators even use for their reasonong?

 

[sratiug]

Replacing internal taxes with a flat tariff is the only way to save our economy from complete destruction. If enacted by constitutional amendment it would also save us the corruption of lobbyists running our government.

Taxing us making things here but allowing imports duty free is suicidal trade policy. No free trade for us, but free trade for all our competitors? That is subsidizing foreign producers at the expense of our jobs.

Only by relying on a flat tariff as our only federal tax can the tax penalty (entirely paid by Americans either way) affect us and them equally. Until the government is endowed or abolished this is our only logical solution.

 

[Stary Hickory]

Replacing internal taxes with a flat tariff is the only way to save our economy from complete destruction. If enacted by constitutional amendment it would also save us the corruption of lobbyists running our government.

Taxing us making things here but allowing imports duty free is suicidal trade policy. No free trade for us, but free trade for all our competitors? That is subsidizing foreign producers at the expense of our jobs.

Only by relying on a flat tariff as our only federal tax can the tax penalty (entirely paid by Americans either way) affect us and them equally. Until the government is endowed or abolished this is our only logical solution.

Well I am all for flat rate tariffs across the board and no internal taxes but for different reasons. It's not as if we would lose our ability to export if we had no tariffs whatsoever and internal taxation. We still HAVE to produce something to trade for what we recieve as imports. The notion that low tariffs drive jobs out of America is not very accurate.

If we could not borrow or print money, then we would be stuck having to offer goods and services in return. Or else we could not afford to purchase what they produce. You could argue that perhaps foreigners would buy up land and capital here in return to some degree as partial payment for goods and services they export. But I don't see how it matters who owns land and capital as long as it it subject to our laws.

I think internal taxation is bad for different reasons though. It certainly is used as a political tool for corrupt politicians to buy votes. And it also disincentivizes productivity. This is psychological thing, I mean a flat tax would probably nullify this effect. Beyond that we escape the burden of the IRS buracreacy and other governmetn angencies.

No one has yet to tackle why low or no tariffs are bad for business. If you are going to say tariffs are good for US producers then you must then explain why the abscence of tariffs would allow us to buy goods and services when we have nothing in return to offer. Getting goods and services cheaply from overseas is never an issue. As long as it is not financed by government debt and inflation.

The only logical arguements against low tariffs is it allows countries to intermingle their economies in ways that make it near impossible to separate again without causing severe economic damage. Like if Manufacturing goes overseas where it is better suited and mining and management services develop in it's stead. In the case of a major war or a break in trade the counrty would quickly have to reorganize it's economy, causing massive temoporary unemployment and a lower standard of living, which could be partially restored only after the restructuring of the economy was on the whole completed.

Trade can only make us wealthier, not poorer. The less obstacles to trade the better.

 

[specsaregood]

I guess they hadn't heard about this:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/stunner-china-set-announce-record-trade-deficit-march

"China Set To Announce Record Trade DEFICIT In March "

After China's exports rebounded in December, US legislators and economists have been demanding the Barack Obama administration label China a currency manipulator in a US Treasury report due out in mid-April, which will make it possible for Washington to slap duties on Chinese imports.



"China's trade surplus with the US has been turned into a key excuse by American economists to pressurize the Chinese government to revalue the yuan," but, ironically, the calls have been growing stronger even as the "surplus keeps falling", Chen said.



The ministry also said on Friday that Washington's method of evaluating trade figures magnifies the deficit with China.



In the three decades up to the 2008 global financial crisis, China's exports registered annual growth of 20 percent but the surplus with the US contributed a big chunk to China's total. Last year, China had a surplus of $143.38 billion with the US, accounting for a hefty 73 percent of the total.

"The impact of currency revaluation on trade is limited," said Chen.




From July 2005 to July 2008, the yuan gained a cumulative 21 percent against the dollar, but China's trade surplus with the US kept rising. When the yuan was steady against the dollar from 2009, the trade surplus dropped 34 percent.




"The deficit has been vastly overestimated based on American statistics," and according to the latest report prepared by both sides, the US deficit for 2006 is "26 percent higher than it should have been," Chen said.

 

[Fox McCloud]

I think it's hilarious that Congress is, in effect, saying that they have the authority to tell another country how to handle its affairs by passing a bill...

 

[sevin]

I think it's hilarious that Congress is, in effect, saying that they have the authority to tell another country how to handle its affairs by passing a bill...

lol. Yup, they seem to think they rule the world.

 

[enjerth]

Trying to pressure China to stop holding down their currency so that what, imports are more expensive? Then they can blame the coming inflation on China.

 

[Zippyjuan]

China does what is in China's best interests. They don't care what anybody else says they should or should not do.

 

[sratiug]

Well I am all for flat rate tariffs across the board and no internal taxes but for different reasons. It's not as if we would lose our ability to export if we had no tariffs whatsoever and internal taxation. We still HAVE to produce something to trade for what we recieve as imports. The notion that low tariffs drive jobs out of America is not very accurate.

If we could not borrow or print money, then we would be stuck having to offer goods and services in return. Or else we could not afford to purchase what they produce. You could argue that perhaps foreigners would buy up land and capital here in return to some degree as partial payment for goods and services they export. But I don't see how it matters who owns land and capital as long as it it subject to our laws.

I think internal taxation is bad for different reasons though. It certainly is used as a political tool for corrupt politicians to buy votes. And it also disincentivizes productivity. This is psychological thing, I mean a flat tax would probably nullify this effect. Beyond that we escape the burden of the IRS buracreacy and other governmetn angencies.

No one has yet to tackle why low or no tariffs are bad for business. If you are going to say tariffs are good for US producers then you must then explain why the abscence of tariffs would allow us to buy goods and services when we have nothing in return to offer. Getting goods and services cheaply from overseas is never an issue. As long as it is not financed by government debt and inflation.

The only logical arguements against low tariffs is it allows countries to intermingle their economies in ways that make it near impossible to separate again without causing severe economic damage. Like if Manufacturing goes overseas where it is better suited and mining and management services develop in it's stead. In the case of a major war or a break in trade the counrty would quickly have to reorganize it's economy, causing massive temoporary unemployment and a lower standard of living, which could be partially restored only after the restructuring of the economy was on the whole completed.

Trade can only make us wealthier, not poorer. The less obstacles to trade the better.

I'm not saying tariffs are good. I'm saying if we pay the tax, the tax should not subsidize foreign producers, which is what internal taxes do. Internal taxes destroy free trade far more than a flat tariff ever could. So it should be obvious that a flat tariff is far better than any internal tax and thus should replace all internal taxes.

 

[Stary Hickory]

I'm not saying tariffs are good. I'm saying if we pay the tax, the tax should not subsidize foreign producers, which is what internal taxes do. Internal taxes destroy free trade far more than a flat tariff ever could. So it should be obvious that a flat tariff is far better than any internal tax and thus should replace all internal taxes.

I see what you are saying, but I still don't get how no tariffs subsidize foreign competition. If we have high tariffs, then we pay more for goods here. So we still pay the tax.

If we had no tariffs and cheap goods came in from overseas then we would have other business and services that would open up to trade for these goods. So the people are no worse off really. They just are doing different work. They have to pay internal taxes which would be roughly the amount they would have had to pay for higher prices on goods in a tariffed economy.

I just don't see the damage from tariffs. For the sake of simplicity and for psychological reasons I like tariffs only. But only if it's a flat rate. Or else you get corporations and industries trying to lobby government for a favorable trade barrier. This causes corruption.

 

[fahayek]

shhhhhhhhhhhh.......don't let china know we're trading IOU's for real goods....shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[EddieG]

It takes gall to make demands on one of your key lenders, as if they are being fiscally irresponsible. China's silly monetary policy is actually hurting the Chinese more than anyone else.

 

[sratiug]

I see what you are saying, but I still don't get how no tariffs subsidize foreign competition. If we have high tariffs, then we pay more for goods here. So we still pay the tax.

If we had no tariffs and cheap goods came in from overseas then we would have other business and services that would open up to trade for these goods. So the people are no worse off really. They just are doing different work. They have to pay internal taxes which would be roughly the amount they would have had to pay for higher prices on goods in a tariffed economy.

I just don't see the damage from tariffs. For the sake of simplicity and for psychological reasons I like tariffs only. But only if it's a flat rate. Or else you get corporations and industries trying to lobby government for a favorable trade barrier. This causes corruption.

If we replaced all our internal federal taxes immediately with a flat tariff it would make imports outrageously expensive. So it should follow that we are now making American products outrageously expensive with our current tax system. That forces Americans to buy cheaper imports from foreigners that do not pay American taxes. So we are paying taxes here that subsidize cheap imports at the cost of our jobs.

The answer is a constitutional amendment with a 10 year phaze over from internal taxes to a flat tariff. The phaze in period will allow us time to cut government spending and move production back to the US. I like to call it the American Free Trade Amendment, since it would allow us to participate in free trade here in America.

 

[EddieG]

Tariffs are a tax on low prices. You aren't going to get a balance of trade while you have the Fed. It's the real reason behind the loss of US mfr'ing power.

 

[Stary Hickory]

If we replaced all our internal federal taxes immediately with a flat tariff it would make imports outrageously expensive. So it should follow that we are now making American products outrageously expensive with our current tax system. That forces Americans to buy cheaper imports from foreigners that do not pay American taxes. So we are paying taxes here that subsidize cheap imports at the cost of our jobs.

The answer is a constitutional amendment with a 10 year phaze over from internal taxes to a flat tariff. The phaze in period will allow us time to cut government spending and move production back to the US. I like to call it the American Free Trade Amendment, since it would allow us to participate in free trade here in America.

Your logic still does not add up. If you cannot borrow and print money then we are still at a zero sum game. The people MUST produce something of value to trade for these outrageously cheap goods. Foreigners will not just give us stuff for free. So you see no matter what there must be productivity in this country, either we produce directly or we produce and indirecty trade for that which we want.

Tariffs do not bring economic prosperity to people. We'd be much better off without them. We'd also be better off without taxes. It's all very circular therefore it makes really no difference besides for psychologial reasons I suppose. Levying tariffs does not protect American prosperity. It restricts competition which is always detrimental.

However we have to fund some level of government so this, no matter which way you slice it, will be a economic burden on people. Either through tariffs or taxes or a combination of both. Personally I prefer tariffs over taxes, but I am not under the illusion that this will benefit me economically. I just hate the corruption and bribery that go along with a progressive tax system, not to mention the bureacracy.

 

[sratiug]

Your logic still does not add up. If you cannot borrow and print money then we are still at a zero sum game. The people MUST produce something of value to trade for these outrageously cheap goods. Foreigners will not just give us stuff for free. So you see no matter what there must be productivity in this country, either we produce directly or we produce and indirecty trade for that which we want.

Tariffs do not bring economic prosperity to people. We'd be much better off without them. We'd also be better off without taxes. It's all very circular therefore it makes really no difference besides for psychologial reasons I suppose. Levying tariffs does not protect American prosperity. It restricts competition which is always detrimental.

However we have to fund some level of government so this, no matter which way you slice it, will be a economic burden on people. Either through tariffs or taxes or a combination of both. Personally I prefer tariffs over taxes, but I am not under the illusion that this will benefit me economically. I just hate the corruption and bribery that go along with a progressive tax system, not to mention the bureacracy.

No, it does add up. American goods are made much more expensive by internal American taxes. This forces Americans to buy cheaper foreign goods from foreigners that are paying no American taxes, leaving more American taxes to be paid by Americans, raising the prices of American goods even more. This destroys our manufacturing so we have to raise taxes even more.

With the flat tariff, we still pay the taxes, but the tax impacts foreign producers also instead of only American producers.

 

[LiveFree79]

China does what is in China's best interests. They don't care what anybody else says they should or should not do.

And they also sell recylced toxic cooking oil to their own people!

 

[torchbearer]

I think it's hilarious that Congress is, in effect, saying that they have the authority to tell another country how to handle its affairs by passing a bill...

quoted for fucking ridiculus truth
QFFRT