【英语国际】美国议员将加紧施压中国改进货币政策

The U.S. trade deficit with China hit its highest level in nearly two years in June and could spur congressional pressure on Beijing to revamp its currency policy.

America's trade deficit with China jumped 17% in June over the previous month to $26.2 billion, the biggest gap since October 2008. Earlier this week, China said its overall trade surplus hit $28.7 billion in July, an 18-month high.

The Commerce Department figures could set the stage for a fight in Congress this fall over China's currency policy. Some lawmakers, arguing that China has set the yuan artificially low to make its exports more price competitive on global markets, are keen to pass laws that would penalize countries that are found to be manipulating their currencies.

China, under pressure from the U.S. and other countries, announced a shift to a more-flexible exchange rate in June. But the yuan has appreciated less than 1% since then, and some economists say that it remains undervalued against the dollar by at least 25%.

While efforts to pass such legislation have made little headway, lawmakers and industry groups agree that the issue could gain traction in September, given that voters, who head to the polls in November, are angry about the country's continued weak economy and high unemployment rate.

A number of bills have garnered bipartisan support, including measures promoted by Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) and Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.) in the House, and by Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) in the Senate.

These efforts would, among other things, make it easier for companies to seek import duties on goods from countries designated as having undervalued currencies. The Ryan-Murphy bill has more than 127 co-sponsors, including 37 Republicans.

Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), said the House Ways and Means Committee would hold a hearing on the currency issue in September after Congress returns from summer recess.

'But no final decisions have been made on moving legislation forward,' he said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), a co-sponsor of the Schumer bill and a member of President Barack Obama's Export Council, wrote Mr. Obama on Aug. 4, urging the administration to take tougher measures to address 'unfairly subsidized exports' by countries such as China. Ten other senators signed the letter, including Republicans Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Olympia Snowe of Maine.

The Treasury Department on Wednesday declined to comment on the U.S.-China trade gap or China's currency policy.

Business groups are expected to intensify their lobbying on the issue, although they differ over whether punitive legislation aimed at China's currency policy is the best solution for narrowing the U.S.-China trade gap.

Augustine Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, a Washington trade group representing U.S. manufacturers, says the group backs the Ryan-Murphy bill and is lobbying lawmakers, targeting those from Midwestern and Southeastern states with large manufacturing sectors and high unemployment.

'These trade surpluses aren't a result of happenstance,' he said. 'We're hoping concerns about job creation and the fall election environment will finally give us an opportunity to bring the legislation to a vote.'

Erin Ennis, vice president for the U.S.-China Business Council, which represents U.S. companies doing business in China, said the window for China to 'show it was serious' about addressing U.S. concerns about the yuan would close in September, when Congress returns to session.

But while Ms. Ennis expected the Chinese currency policy to be a major issue in the fall, 'this isn't our member companies' top priority,' she said.

Rather, she said that Congress and the administration should focus on reducing barriers to China's market and on the country's new 'indigenous innovation' policy, which many Western companies say unfairly favors Chinese companies by promoting domestic innovation.

美国对中国贸易逆差6月份升至近两年来的最高水平，这可能导致美国国会向中国政府施压，以促使其改进货币政策。

6月美国对中国贸易逆差较前月增长17%至262亿美元，达到2008年10月以来的最高水平。本周稍早，中国公布7月份整体贸易顺差触及18个月高点，为287亿美元。

Associated Press5月份广东一家工厂的生产线商务部的数据可能为国会今年秋季针对中国货币政策的战斗埋下伏笔。一些议员认为中国人为压低人民币汇率，以使中国出口商品在全球市场上更具价格竞争力，这些议员急切希望通过专门法律以制裁那些被认为操纵本币汇率的国家。

迫于美国和其他国家的压力，中国在6月份已宣布转向更具弹性的汇率机制，但自那以来人民币升值幅度还不到1%，一些经济学家认为，人民币兑美元汇率仍至少被低估了25%。

尽管通过这一立法的努力进展甚微，但议员和业界组织认为这一事项将在9月份获得广泛支持，那些将在11月月份美国中期选举中投票的人们，对于美国经济持续疲弱和失业率居高不下已非常气愤。

一系列相关法案已得到两党的支持，其中包括众议员莱恩(Tim Ryan)和墨菲(Patrick Murphy)，以及参议员舒默(Charles Schumer)提出的法案。

这些努力再加上其他因素的作用，将使企业更容易寻求对那些被定义为货币遭低估国家的商品征收高额进口关税。莱恩－墨菲法案有超过127位的共同提案人，其中包括37名共和党议员。

美国众议院议长佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)的发言人艾尔沙密(Nadeam Elshami)说，在国会议员从夏休返回后，美国众议院筹款委员会（House Ways and Means Committee)9月份将就人民币问题举行听证会。

但他说，在推进相关立法方面尚未作出最终决定。

美国参议员布朗(Sherrod Brown)是舒默议案的共同提案人，而且是奥巴马总统所设出口委员会(Export Council)的成员，他在8月4日写信给奥巴马，敦促政府出台更严厉措施以应对中国等国家“不公平的出口补贴”。其他10位参议员在这封信上签了名，其中包括来自肯塔基州的共和党人邦宁(Jim Bunning)和来自缅因州的共和党人斯诺(Olympia Snowe)。

美国财政部周三拒绝对美中贸易逆差和中国人民币政策发表评论。

各行业团体料将就这一事宜加强他们的游说工作，尽管在针对中国货币政策的制裁性立法是否能使美中贸易逆差最大程度缩小这一问题上，他们彼此存在分歧。

美国制造业贸易行动联盟(American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition)是代表美国制造业者的行业组织，其执行董事坦蒂洛(Augustine Tantillo)说，该组织支持莱恩－墨菲议案，并在游说那些来自具有大规模制造业和失业人数较高的中西部和东南部各州的议员。

坦蒂洛说，这些贸易顺差并不是偶然事件的结果，我们希望对于创造就业的担忧和中期选举因素，最终将使莱恩－墨菲议案有机会在国会付诸表决。

美中贸易全国委员会(U.S.-China Business Council)代表着在中国做生意的美国企业，其副总裁恩尼斯(Erin Ennis)说，中国显示其认真应对美国对人民币忧虑的窗口将于9月份关闭，因为届时国会议员们将从假期返回。

尽管恩尼斯预计中国的汇率政策将是今秋的重要议题，但她说，这不是我们成员企业优先考虑的事。

恩尼斯说，国会和奥巴马政府应该把重点放在降低中国市场的准入壁垒以及中国新出台的“自主创新”政策上。许多西方企业说，该政策通过推动国内创新，不公平地偏向中国企业。