Cantwell Statement on Currency Bill

Statement

Thursday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement on her vote to oppose the Currency Exchange Rage Oversight Reform Act of 2007 in the Finance Committee today:

"While S.1607 is intended to spur U.S. Government action on countries with fundamentally misaligned currency, I find this legislation itself to be fundamentally misaligned. It will not solve the problem of the Chinese RMB being undervalued. We all want China to reform its financial sector, banking system, and capital markets and we want China to fully implement its WTO commitments. Movement towards these objectives will require a constructive dialogue that is firm, but fair rather than legislative action that could be perceived as protectionism.

"I believe there are important dialogues going on and they should not be undermined. I personally believe that China needs to make legal reforms, to end trade subsidies, and to improve protection of intellectual property and the environment. Consumer safety issues ought to be the paramount focus for us in making sure that imports into our country meet certain standards. The closer the US and Chinese economies are integrated, the more likely the Chinese economy is going to reflect those market reforms that we want to see.

"Congress must not take action that could result in unintended consequences from hurting U.S. consumers to possible retaliation against U.S. companies. That would be bad for both our countries. I oppose this legislation because it doesn't meet the stated goals of getting China to move towards a market-determined exchange rate, and it has too many risky consequences."

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