Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Currency Reform For Fair Trade Act

Sometime in late September the house passed the Currency Reform For Fair Trade Act.  
The act seeks to deter China from manipulating its currency by putting in place a mechanism to determine whether the exchange rate of the currency of an exporting country (i.e.- China) is fundamentally and actionably undervalued or overvalued (misaligned) against the U.S. dollar for an 18-month period which would then lead to "certain actions under a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding to offset such misalignment in cases of an affirmative determination." 

If you're still not clear on what it is or does, go here:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/HR2378_one-pager.pdf

The bill passed the house 348-79.  
For a more detailed look at the results, click here:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll554.xml

As you can see, the republicans were split right down the middle.

Here is what Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM,) had to say:
Today, the House of Representatives sent a clear message to Beijing: Stop your cheating. America's workers and businesses deserve a level playing field, and passing this bipartisan bill is a significant step in that direction... Voters are mad and Congress is finally responding.
The Chinese, however, have a different take on the matter:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE69B03020101012



PS.  Sorry for the lack of updates!

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