Orrin Hatch: “I rise in support of amendment No. 680 that we have filed. I am concerned that the bill before us will have only…”

“I rise in support of amendment No. 680 that we have filed. I am concerned that the bill before us will have only marginal effects on China's manipulation of its currency. My amendment offers a different approach, one which I believe will be more effective over the long term. Let me first say, I strongly agree with the sponsors of this bill about the need to send a strong signal to China, and other currency manipulators as well, that massive intervention in the currency markets to gain trade advantage will no longer be tolerated. For the international economic system to work, every country, including China, needs to play by the rules. Similarly to many of my colleagues, my frustrations with China's trade and economic practices go far beyond currency manipulation. For example, China's failure to protect intellectual property rights, China's industrial policies, their limitations on American investment, and their unfair support and subsidization of State-owned and State- assisted enterprises are all very serious problems we need to address. So while today we are focusing on currency manipulation, I look forward to working with Senator Baucus to examine potential solutions to these problems through Finance Committee hearings on China, which I hope we will hold soon. The sponsors of this bill assure us that their approach is WTO consistent and will not result in a trade war with one of our largest trading partners.…”