Levin Squares Off with Fed Reserve Chair Over Impacts of Currency Rules
House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., dug in on his position that currency rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership won’t impact the ability of the U.S. to act to improve the economy, in a statement on Feb. 24 (here). Levin has repeatedly made that claim over recent weeks (see 1502090017), but his latest offensive comes after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Senate lawmakers those currency rules could “hamper or even hobble monetary policy,” according to reports (here). Yellen also argued current U.S. monetary policy can’t qualify as currency manipulation, a claim backed up by Levin. “Currency manipulation has negatively affected the impact of trade and has likely cost the U.S. millions of jobs and it must be addressed as part of our TPP negotiations,” Levin said in his statement (here).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Many Republicans prefer that the U.S. influence currency manipulation globally through quiet diplomacy, but Democrats on Capitol Hill widely refute that. The House and Senate also introduced legislation in mid-February to force the Commerce Department to impose countervailing duties on U.S. imports from countries that violate currency rules (see 1502120014). Those bills don't mention TPP, and some Democrats have said currency rules need to be tackled both on Capitol Hill and in TPP talks. So far, TPP parties haven't discussed currency in the negotiations, according to the latest U.S. Trade Representative statements.