[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2813 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2813

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to take action with respect to 
 currency manipulation by the People's Republic of China and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 3, 2008

 Mr. Bunning (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Bayh) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to take action with respect to 
 currency manipulation by the People's Republic of China and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``China Currency Manipulation Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The People's Republic of China has a material global 
        current account surplus.
            (2) The People's Republic of China has, since the beginning 
        of 2000, accumulated a current account surplus with the United 
        States of nearly $1,200,000,000,000, more than twice the size 
        of the cumulative current account surplus of any other United 
        States trading partner during the same period.
            (3) The People's Republic of China has engaged in 
        protracted large-scale intervention in currency markets, 
        thereby subsidizing Chinese-made products and erecting a 
        formidable nontariff barrier to trade for United States exports 
        to the People's Republic of China, in contravention of the 
        spirit and intent of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
        and the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary 
        Fund.

SEC. 3. ACTION TO ACHIEVE FAIR CURRENCY.

    (a) Determination.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall--
            (1) make an affirmative determination that the People's 
        Republic of China is manipulating the rate of exchange between 
        its currency and the United States dollar within the meaning of 
        section 3004(b) of the Exchange Rates and International 
        Economic Policies Coordination Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 5304(b)); 
        and
            (2) take the action described in subsections (b), (c), and 
        (d) of this section.
    (b) Action.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not 
        later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        establish a plan of action to remedy currency manipulation by 
        the People's Republic of China, and submit a report regarding 
        that plan, to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
        Affairs and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Ways and 
        Means of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Benchmarks.--The report described in paragraph (1) 
        shall include specific benchmarks and timeframes for correcting 
        the currency manipulation.
    (c) Initial Negotiations.--The Secretary shall initiate, on an 
expedited basis, bilateral negotiations with the People's Republic of 
China for the purpose of ensuring that the country regularly and 
promptly adjusts the rate of exchange between its currency and the 
United States dollar to permit effective balance of payment adjustments 
and to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage.
    (d) Coordination With the International Monetary Fund.--The 
Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later than 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, instruct the Executive Director to the 
International Monetary Fund to use the voice and vote of the United 
States, including requesting consultations under Article IV of the 
Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, for the 
purpose of ensuring the People's Republic of China regularly and 
promptly adjusts the rate of exchange between its currency and the 
United States dollar to permit effective balance of payments 
adjustments and to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage in trade.
                                 <all>