Letter to the Hon. Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury, and the Hon. Michael Froman, United States Trade Representative - Address Currency Manipulation in International Trade Agreement

Letter

Dear Ambassador Froman and Secretary Lew,

We would appreciate you updating us on the efforts to address currency issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

As you know, we have long been concerned about currency issues, which directly impact the competitiveness of workers in our states and across the country. However, recently China devalued its currency by over 4 percent. In response to China's actions, Vietnam devalued its currency nearly 1 percent and Korea has since done the same. We do not expect these devaluations to be the last, even in the near-term. We fear these recent currency interventions could lead to a pattern of competitive devaluation within the Asia-Pacific that could hurt US workers and exports for years to come. Therefore, it is extremely important that TPP addresses currency issues in meaningful and concrete ways.

Further, as China's recent devaluation demonstrated, these interventions can have significant and immediate global economic impacts. Thus, currency issues must be addressed seriously, aggressively, and promptly. Recent comments by foreign TPP negotiators to Senate staff members suggest very little progress has been made on this issue. We would appreciate your perspective as to the impact these devaluations are having on US workers and your efforts to address them in the continuing TPP negotiations.

Thank you for your attention to this issue.