Washington, DC – House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) called on the Administration today to pressure China to stop unfairly undervaluing its currency at the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) symposium in March.  In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Camp and Baucus noted that China has actively blocked currency undervaluation discussions at the WTO.  The letter makes clear China’s unfair trade practices, including its currency undervaluation, cost U.S. jobs.

“China continues to undervalue its currency, providing an unfair advantage to Chinese exporters and harming U.S. manufacturers and their workers,” Camp and Baucus wrote.  “China will not end its currency undervaluation unless the U.S. seizes opportunities like this to insist it does.  Expanding and intensifying discussions at the WTO can further this effort and bring significantly more pressure to bear on China.”

According to a recent analysis by the IMF, China’s yuan is undervalued relative to the dollar by as much as 23 percent.  China’s unfair trade practices have contributed to the growth of the U.S. trade deficit by nearly $200 billion dollars since 2001.  In their letter, Camp and Baucus urged the Administration to address these issues at the upcoming symposium of the WTO Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance in order to continue the pressure on China to end its unfair practices.

The full text of the Chairmen’s letter can be found here.