Global News
BEIJING—In a defiant response to U.S. Senate approval of a bill that would pressure China to let its currency rise faster, the nation’s central bank set the guideposts for the yuan substantially lower on Wednesday and Thursday and warned that the bill could imperil further currency overhaul.
But the Chinese currency finished higher in Wednesday trading as investors took it higher within its tight trading range, underscoring skepticism that the bill will become law, and taking into account the pressures that are pushing Beijing to let the yuan rise. The yuan opened initially lower Thursday morning local time.
The People’s Bank of China, which tightly controls the yuan’s trading on the mainland, early Wednesday guided the yuan lower against the U.S. dollar just hours after the U.S. Senate approved the bill on a 63-35 vote. The move—which Nomura Securities called “a warning shot”—contributed to a drop in the yuan’s value versus the U.S. dollar early in the Asian trading day. Later it reversed course.
The PBOC’s guidance of the yuan in any one day doesn’t necessarily indicate whether the yuan will end the day higher or lower, as the trading range allows investors to defy the direction set by the central bank for that day. Longer term, the currency is fixed to the path the PBOC sets for it.
“People look at the PBOC’s move today as a gesture of defiance to the U.S., but we need to see more fixings like this to reach that conclusion,” said Prakash Sakpal, a Singapore-based Asia economist with ING Groep NV.
Adding to the defiant tone, the PBOC said that the legislation could complicate its effort to gradually free the yuan from its government restrictions and let it trade more freely. “Politicizing the yuan issue can’t solve U.S. problems like the trade deficit and a high jobless rate, but it may affect the ongoing process of yuan exchange-rate reform,” the PBOC said in a statement.
The PBOC doesn’t explain its daily decisions behind the value of the yuan, which also is called the renminbi. It didn’t respond to questions Wednesday.
The central bank’s response joined protests from other Chinese government agencies on Wednesday. Beijing has warned that passage of the legislation could spark a trade war.
“The bill seriously violates World Trade Organization rules and will not only fail to resolve America’s economic and employment problems but will also inflict serious damage on Sino-U.S. trade relations and interfere in efforts by both countries and the international community to revive the global economy,” the Foreign Ministry reiterated in a statement Wednesday.
Some business groups also registered opposition. “The Senate bill would damage the bilateral trade and investment relationship, weaken our standing in the World Trade Organization, and damage our national interests,” said Ted Dean, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce-China, in a statement.
The legislation would force the White House to be more aggressive in seeking tariffs and other penalties against countries with “misaligned” currencies. The bill is aimed at helping U.S. firms, which argue that Beijing’s policy of holding down the value of the yuan benefits China’s exporters by acting as a trade subsidy. Opponents of the bill say that if it becomes law, Beijing might retaliate against U.S. firms based in China.
The legislation has wide support in the U.S. House of Representatives, which also must approve the bill and send it to the president for final approval before it becomes law. But Republican House leaders have signaled they have little interest in scheduling a vote. House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) has called the approach “dangerous,” and has insisted he will resist pressure for a House vote.
That may be the best outcome for President Barack Obama. White House officials have opposed action by Congress in the past while trying to leverage the threat of congressional action to press China for a faster rate of currency appreciation.
Mr. Obama weighed in on the issue last week when he accused China of manipulating the yuan and “gaming the trading system to its advantage.” But he also expressed concern about how the Senate bill might affect U.S. international obligations.
The PBOC on Wednesday set yuan’s trading rate against the dollar—also called the parity rate—at 6.3598, compared with 6.3483 on Tuesday. PBOC prohibits the yuan from rising or falling against the dollar more than 0.5% from that rate in over-the-counter mainland markets.
The move surprised currency traders, who had expected the yuan to match the dollar’s stability in early Wednesday trading, and they initially sent the currency to the lower limit of its allowed trading range.
But the currency bounced back later, and late Wednesday the dollar was at 6.3585 yuan, compared with 6.3750 yuan late Tuesday. The yuan had a similar trajectory in Hong Kong, the only place outside the mainland where the currency can be freely traded.
The rise indicated deep skepticism that the law would pass and that Beijing would retaliate further by trying to weaken the yuan.
A weaker yuan benefits China’s manufacturers, but Beijing has been gradually guiding the currency higher since the middle of last year, when it effectively ended the currency’s peg to the dollar after two years of inflexibility. A stronger yuan puts downward pressure on domestic inflation, strengthens consumption and makes it more appealing as a global currency that China could use in lieu of its current dollar dependence.
The currency has risen nearly 7% since last year’s effective depegging. Beijing also allowed the yuan to strengthen 21% from July 2005 to July 2008, then suspended the appreciation to help Chinese exporters ride through the global financial crisis.
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By: Lingling Wei
Source: The Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2011
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