Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Tom Carper (D-DE) filed an amendment today to crack down on countries like China that unfairly weaken their currency. The amendment could block a country that illegally manipulates its currency from participating in future trade agreements.
“Colorado businesses and workers are right to be concerned that countries like China are able to make overseas goods cheaper and exports from Colorado less attractive on the global markets,” Bennet said. “This amendment will help give U.S. companies a fair shake abroad. If a country fails to adopt fair economic policies, we should be able to take appropriate action to punish them, block them from future free trade agreements, and restrict their access to our financing and market opportunities.”
“There are valid concerns about currency manipulation and its impact on American workers and businesses, but we have to be careful about how we address those concerns,” said Senator Carper. “If we go too far, we could provoke our international trading partners to retaliate against American goods and services and keep them out of the markets we want to reach. That’s why I’ve joined with Senator Bennet to offer a solution that would give the administration new tools and resources to take on currency manipulation but do so in a way that won’t have unintended consequences that could hurt American businesses and workers.”
The Bennet-Carper amendment would create enhanced oversight of international exchange rate policy, authorize specific remedial actions for the U.S. government to pursue against trading partners that fail to adopt appropriate exchange rate policies, and provide the U.S. government with additional tools for strengthening trade enforcement.
The amendment requires extensive bilateral engagement with a country found to be improperly interfering with its currency markets as a first step. If that country fails to adopt appropriate policies within a year, it lays out specific remedial actions that can be taken to punish these countries – including blocking them from future free trade agreements and restricting their access to the U.S. financing and market opportunities.
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