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To: RockyBalboa who wrote (41)	4/15/2004 8:16:18 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 45

U.S. group to file China currency case soon Reuters, 04.15.04, 7:35 PM ET By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of U.S. farm, labor and manufacturing groups will soon formally ask the Bush administration to investigate whether China's currency peg is an unfair trade practice that can be challenged at the World Trade Organization, an industry official said Thursday. Frank Vargo, vice president for international trade at the National Association of Manufacturers, said the Fair Currency Alliance would file its petition with the U.S. Trade Representative's Office "almost certainly this month." U.S. manufacturers, labor groups and farmers complain that Beijing's practice of pegging the yuan at 8.28 to the dollar gives Chinese exporters an unfair advantage by artificially making their goods cheaper in world markets. They believe launching an investigation under a provision of U.S. trade law known as "section 301" would give the Bush administration additional leverage in persuading Beijing to move to a more flexible exchange rate. Once the petition is filed, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office would have 45 days to decide whether the criteria have been met to launch a potentially yearlong investigation that could lead to a formal challenge of China's currency policy at the WTO or even unilateral U.S. sanctions. Vargo said the Fair Currency Coalition had begun showing its petition to Bush administration officials in preparation for filing the case. Coalition members were mulling whether to take that step before -- or after -- a U.S.-China trade meeting next week in Washington, he said. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and other Bush administration officials have been cool to the idea of challenging China's currency peg at the WTO. But the U.S. trade office's recent annual report on foreign trade barriers mentioned exporters' concerns about China's currency peg for the first time. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Thursday he was sure China would eventually move to a more flexible exchange rate once it dealt with problems in its financial system that prevent a more rapid move. Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service