Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:39am EDT
WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday it was important for t he U.S. economy that China continue to allow its currency to rise in value against the U.S. dollar.
"It is very important for us that China continue to allow their exchange rate to rise against the dollar," G eithner told lawmakers at a hearing on the Treasury Department's budget. " We agree that they have some ways to go," he said.
The U.S. Treasury Department faces a semi-annual deadline on April 15 to declare whether any country is manipulating its currency for an unfair trade advantage. The department, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has not cited any country since 1994, when China was last named.
Mitt Romney, the front-runner in the Republican race to challenge President Barack Obama for the White House in November, has promised one of his first acts if elected would be to label China a currency manipulator, something the Obama administration has six times declined to do.
That would set the stage, under Romney's plan, for the United States to impose countervailing duties on Chinese goods to offset the advantage of what many consider to be China's undervalued currency.
Last year, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed legislation to do essentially the same thing.
However, the measure has stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where leaders say they fear it could start a trade war, and the Obama administration has not pushed for a House vote on the currency bill.
Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization hosted a symposium this week for countries to air their frustration about currency practices of other WTO members.
The United States was represented by U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke, and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for International Monetary and Financial Policy Mark Sobel.
"When trading partners believe others are allowing their exchange rates to adjust in line with fundamentals, there is less pressure for protectionism and more support for trade liberalization," Sobel said in a statement.
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