A leading business group, the U.S. Business Industry Council (USBIC) endorsed the reintroduction of the Hunter-Ryan China Currency bill (now titled H.R. 782, the Fair Currency Act of 2007) saying that the bill will help small and medium sized domestic manufacturers deal with the currency issue.
"H.R. 782 can lead to sanctions on currency manipulators, put a stop to foreign government manipulation of currency markets and lead to appropriate exchange rates," said Kevin L. Kearns, president of USBIC.
The bill was originally introduced in 2005 by Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Tim Ryan (D-OH), is designed to give America's domestic manufacturers the ability to directly combat Asian currency manipulation
Continued Kearns, "The Hunter-Ryan bill will allow domestic American manufacturers to do for themselves what the Bush Administration cannot seem to bring itself to do."
From 1988 to 1994, the Treasury Department found China to be violating the 1988 Trade Act's currency manipulation provisions five times. Taiwan was found to be manipulating four times, and Korea was found to be manipulating its currency three times.
Since 1994, neither the Clinton nor Bush Administrations has applied the 1988 Trade Act as intended by Congress says the USBIC. And the U.S. trade deficit in goods with China continues to rise each year. In 2005, it was $202 billion, while in 2006 it climbed 15.38% to $233 billion. "It is high time for the Secretary of the Treasury to cite Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea in the upcoming semi-annual report to Congress," added Kearns.
The U.S. Business and Industry Council, founded in 1933, is a national business organization representing roughly 1,500 small and medium-sized domestic U.S. companies, predominantly manufacturers.
