White House: China not manipulating money
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-29 06:33

"It is imperative that China move toward greater flexibility as quickly as possible," Snow said in a statement accompanying Monday's report.

He said the administration would focus on China's actions in preparing the next currency report to Congress, which will be due in April. He said China's leaders have "committed repeatedly" to introducing more flexibility.

If the administration had found that China was manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages, that finding would have triggered consultations between the two countries.

It could have eventually led to trade sanctions being imposed by the U.S. government against Chinese goods if the United States was able to win a case on the issue before the International Monetary Fund.

Briefing reporters on Monday's finding, Treasury Undersecretary Timothy Adams said it was "absolutely critical" before the next report is due in April that Chinese authorities put in place the flexible type of currency system that they have promised.

He refused to say specifically what China would need to do to avoid being designated a currency manipulator in the next report, saying, "I don't have a particular standard in mind. It is kind of like obscenity. We will know it when we see it."

But Adams said the administration remained opposed to the Schumer bill with across-the-board tariffs. He called that approach protectionist and isolationist and said it would probably prompt retaliatory tariffs by the Chinese on American goods.