From the Wall Street Journal:
Two of the Senate’s leading China critics signaled a willingness to avoid confrontation in a long-simmering currency dispute, after a fresh appeal from the Bush administration to delay action on a bill to impose a hefty tariff on Chinese-made goods.
The legislation reflects widespread concern on Capitol Hill about China’s currency practices and is intended to raise pressure on Beijing to loosen control of its currency, the yuan. Critics contend Beijing keeps the currency’s value artificially low as part of a strategy to give Chinese companies an unfair advantage in world markets.
The lead sponsors of the legislation, Sens. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, had been pushing for a vote this week, raising alarms in the Bush administration that action on the measure could tarnish the U.S.’s free-trade credentials.[Full Text and Subscribers Only]
