Source:
New York TimesThe House of Representatives sent a unusually confrontational signal to the Chinese leadership on Wednesday,
voting overwhelmingly to give President Obama the authority to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports — more than $300 billion this year — in retaliation for Beijing’s refusal to revalue its currency.
The vote was 348 to 79. The bill is unlikely to become law because the prospects for Senate approval are dim.
Nonetheless, the action was intended to hand President Obama additional leverage in what has become a major flashpoint between the world’s two largest economies.
While tariffs have been slapped on specific products, from steel to tires, because of evidence of unfair export subsidies, the threat to put sizable tariffs on a country’s entire line exports to the United States is highly unusual — and, some argue, of dubious legality under international trade law. It reflects both election-year politics over jobs and huge frustration over unfulfilled promises by China to allow its currency to rise in value, which would make Chinese goods less competitive in the United States.
The risks go beyond trade. President Obama is pressing China for help on cutting exports to Iran, managing a dangerous leadership transition in North Korea and coming to some kind of accord on curbing carbon outputs that contribute to global warming. He is also coming up with what one senior administration official called “new rules of the road” over disputed maritime territory.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/business/30currency.html
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