US report criticizes China's currency policy

The Obama administration has said that China's currency remains "significantly undervalued," but it stopped short of citing China or any other country for unfairly manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages.
In a new report by the Treasury Department, the administration did warn China and other countries running trade surpluses such as Germany and South Korea that they need to step up efforts to boost domestic growth to support a weak global recovery.
The Treasury report warned Beijing that it needs to stop intervening so frequently in currency markets and allow its currency to rise in value against the dollar.

US manufacturers contend the renminbi is undervalued by as much as 40 per cent and is a significant reason for America's large trade deficit with the world's second-biggest economy.
A weaker renminbi versus the dollar means that Chinese goods are cheaper for US consumers and American products are more expensive in China.
American manufacturers expressed disappointment with the decision not to cite China or Japan, two countries they claim are violating trade rules by managing their currency to gain trade advantages.

Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said that the Chinese renminbi and the Japanese yen "are clearly undervalued and manipulated and this disparity in exchange rates is one of the largest impediments to real and meaningful growth in US manufacturing jobs."

China began intervening in currency markets in February to lower the value of its currency against the dollar. Between mid-February and April, the renminbi fell in value by 3.1 per cent against the dollar. It has partially recovered since late April but remains lower in value by 1.4 per cent over the first nine months of this year after having risen 2.9 per cent in 2013.
"China should allow the market to play a greater role in determining the exchange rate," the report said, saying the currency needs to appreciate further against the dollar.
On Europe, the report said that policies in the 18 nations that use the euro currency have resulted in persistently weak growth since the 2008 financial crisis. Unemployment is far too high, and inflation is running far below the target of around 2 per cent set by the European Central Bank, the report said.

It urged surplus countries in Europe a reference to Germany to do more to stimulate domestic demand and give a boost to growth in that region.