美国参议院将就中国操控人民币汇率投票

A leading U.S. lawmaker says the Senate will move forward next week on legislation that aims to encourage China to raise the value of its currency as a way to strengthen the U.S. job te Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday the Senate will take up the bi-partisan currency legislation next week, and that he feels "very comfortable" it will be Senate bill would require the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate if a country is undervaluing its currency, which would be regarded as a government subsidy under U.S. law. Affected U.S. companies would then be allowed to seek retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the country.

Some analysts say China has intentionally undervalued the yuan, giving Chinese companies an unfair advantage against U.S. of the bill's sponsors, Democrat Sherrod Brown ((of Ohio,)) said last week China was "cheating" when it and others manipulate their currency and keep prices of their exports artificially low on world markets. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer ((of New York)) used more direct language, saying that China is committing "economic murder."Earlier this month, the Economic Policy Institute - an American economic research organization - estimated that the country's growing trade deficit with China has eliminated or displaced nearly 2.8 million jobs since an editorial in China's state-run Xinhua newspaper spoke out against the currency legislation, saying a stronger yuan "would not fundamentally change the structural problems that existed in the U.S. economy."美国国会参议院领导人里德说，美国参议院下周将推进一项立法，旨在鼓励中国提高其货币币值从而加强美国就业市场。参议院多数党领袖里德星期一说，参议院下周将着手处理这项两党提出的货币法案，他对法案能够获得通过感到“非常有信心”。参议院的这项法案将要求美国商务部调查一个国家是否在压低其货币币值，这种情况根据美国法律属于政府补贴。受到影响的美国公司随后将被允许寻求对从该国进口的货物征收报复性关税。

有些分析人士说，中国故意压低人民币汇率，给中国公司在面对美国制造业者时提供了不公平的优势。这项法案的发起人之一、俄亥俄州的民主党人布朗参议员上个星期说，中国等国操控本国货币、在国际市场上人为压低其出口商品价格，这是在作弊。纽约州的民主党参议员舒默使用的语言更为直接，他说，中国正在进行“经济谋杀”。美国经济政策研究所本月早些时候估计，美国不断增长的对华贸易赤字从2001年以来已经消除或者转移了280万个工作机会。但是新华社发表社论，直接抨击美国的这项汇率立法。社论说，人民币升值不会根本改变“美国经济存在的深层结构性问题”。