April 03,2010

Grassley: Treasury Delay of China Currency Report Wastes Time, WTO Case is in Order

M E M O R A N D U M

To:      Reporters and Editors

Re:      Treasury Department Semiannual Report on Exchange Rate Policies

Da:      Saturday, April 3, 2010

Treasury Secretary Geithner announced today that he has decided to delay publication of the Treasury Department’s semiannual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies.  The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 requires Treasury to submit the report to Congress by April 15.  Senator Chuck Grassley, the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, made the following comment in response to today’s announcement:

“I’m disappointed that Secretary Geithner is delaying publication of the Department’s exchange rate report.  Everyone knows China is manipulating the value of its currency to gain an unfair advantage in international trade.  If we want the Chinese to take us seriously, we need to be willing to say so in public.  The past few years have proven that denying the problem doesn’t solve anything.  The Treasury Department should cite China as a currency manipulator.  I renew my call for the Administration to prepare a WTO case against China under Article XV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.”