Rob Portman, a former trade chief, will vote to treat China currency manipulation as trade violation
Cleveland Plain Dealer – At last, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman are on the same side on foreign trade.
It’s only temporary, but it still qualifies as newsworthy. Portman, a Republican who used to serve as President George W. Bush’s trade ambassador, said on the Senate floor that he will vote yes on a bill that would require the government to treat China’s currency manipulation as an unfair trade practice. This would enable the United States to impose duties on Chinese imports if China did not stop the practice.
The vote is expected tomorrow.
Brown, a Democrat, is the sponsor of the bill, called the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011. Its likely passage marks a long-sought victory, although getting the House to take it up is still a struggle.
