230 Lawmakers Ask Obama to Add Currency Manipulation Provisions in TPP
More than 200 members of Congress signed onto a letter asking President Obama to include currency manipulation provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to help bolster ongoing currency undervaluation efforts and respond to the “trade-distorting” manipulative policies that hurt the global economy. The June 6 letter, signed by 230 lawmakers, said that including currency provisions “will also raise the TPP to the 21st century agreement standard set by the Administration.” The lawmakers also said undervalued exchange rates contribute to trade imbalances -- allowing other countries to boost their exports while impeding U.S. exports -- and market access limitations. This is not a new topic in Congress: A bipartisan group of Senators reintroduced a currency manipulation bill June 5 (see 13060606). House members introduced a similar bill in March (see 13032129). Read the June 6 letter (here).
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“With this letter, a majority of the U.S. House has sent a clear message that there is no point in negotiating a TPP agreement to eliminate import duties if countries are allowed to effectively reimpose those duties by manipulating their currencies, even before the ink is dry on the agreement text,” said House Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin, D-Mich., in a statement (here). “We must proceed on multiple fronts, through legislation and trade agreements, with the ultimate goal of an enforceable, global agreement on currency.”