皇冠体育app

Americas

Clinton, Obama back 皇冠体育app currency bill

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-07-06 09:42

WASHINGTON?- Senator Hillary Clinton, a leading?Democratic contender for the US presidency, has called for frank dialogue with 皇冠体育app on issues ranging from trade to currency?to human rights and the environment.?

She?believes the next US president will be forced to face a dramatically empowered 皇冠体育app.

"We should neither fear a stronger 皇冠体育app nor ignore it. That means engagement and understanding, but also frank dialogue on issues ranging from trade to currency manipulation to human rights abuses and the environment," she said in a speech last month at the Center for a New American Security.

Clinton of New York, together with another?Democratic front-runner in the November 2008 presidential race, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois,?have joined a congressional push to punish countries that undervalue their currencies as legislators seek to turn up the heat over 皇冠体育app's currency.

They signed on last week as co-sponsors of bipartisan legislation that was unveiled on June 13, Senate aides said.

The bill's sponsors include Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and the ranking Republican, Iowa's Charles Grassley. It would force expedited action against nations seen as manipulating their currency, such as exclusion from some contracts and a fast track for new challenges at the World Trade Organization court.

While the proposed measures would apply to any country, the lawmakers have set their sights on 皇冠体育app. Members of Congress say the Bush administration is doing too little to pressure Beijing to revalue the yuan, which some believe it undervalues by up to 40 percent to make its exports more competitive.

"皇冠体育app has manipulated its currency for years in order to gain an unfair advantage over the United States in trade. Unfortunately, the Administration has failed to effectively challenge or change 皇冠体育app's behavior," Obama told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a letter last month.

Clinton, meanwhile, believes the next?president will be forced to face a dramatically empowered 皇冠体育app.

"We should neither fear a stronger 皇冠体育app nor ignore it. That means engagement and understanding, but also frank dialogue on issues ranging from trade to currency manipulation to human rights abuses and the environment," she said in a speech last month at the Center for a New American Security.