国际英语新闻：U.S. opts not to label China as currency manipulator

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday declined to label China a currency manipulator.

"Treasury has concluded that no major trading partner of the United States met the standards identified in Section 3004 of the Act," the department said in its biannual report sent to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies.

The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 requires the Treasury Secretary to provide reports on "whether countries manipulate the rate of exchange between their currency and the United States dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade."

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Washington will closely and regularly monitor the appreciation of the renminbi or yuan, China's currency. "What matters is how far and how fast the renminbi appreciates," he said.

The Treasury Department's decision displeased U.S. lawmakers, some of whom made fresh calls for stiffer tariffs on Chinese goods unless China took significant steps to appreciate its currency.

The Capitol Hill has been aggressive in pushing China on the currency issue as China's trade and currency policies now have a larger impact on the United State than before.

But what is more important is that the U.S. policy makers need a scapegoat to divert public attention from serious domestic problems -- for example, the high unemployment rate that stubbornly remains over 9 percent despite months of moderate growth.