We will hit back at US, warns China

BEIJING, Sunday

Beijing will take retaliatory steps if the United States declares China a currency manipulator and imposes trade sanctions, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said today, the latest salvo in a spat over the value of the yuan.

Chen, speaking at the China Development Forum, again accused Washington of politicising the issue ahead of an April 15 deadline when the US Treasury must decide whether to declare China a currency manipulator.

“The currency is a sovereign issue and should not be an issue to be discussed between two countries,” Chen said.

“We think the renminbi (yuan) is not undervalued, but if the US Treasury gave an untrue reply for its own needs, we will wait and see.

If such a reply is followed by trade sanctions, I think we will not do nothing. We will also respond if this means litigation under the global legal framework.”

He did not specify how Beijing might respond. Political pressure is growing in Washington to declare China a currency manipulator, with some US senators threatening to slap duties on Chinese products if Beijing does not allow the yuan to rise.

China has held its currency near 6.83 yuan to the dollar since mid-2008 in order to help China’s exporters weather the global financial crisis.