Global General
US delays yuan ruling ahead of Hu visit
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-04 09:52
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WASHINGTON: U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Saturday he was delaying an April 15 report on whether China manipulates its currency but pledged to press for a more flexible Chinese currency policy.
The decision follows Thursday's announcement in Beijing that Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend a nuclear security summit meeting in Washington April 12-13 and seems to be a move to keep tensions over currency in check.
The Obama administration seeks broad global support for measures to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, making it an inconvenient time to risk inflaming the dispute over China's currency policy.
Geithner said he will use upcoming meetings of the Group of 20 and a U.S.-China economic summit in Beijing in May to try to get China to budge.
"I believe these meetings are the best avenue for advancing U.S. interests at this time," Geithner said in a statement issued at midday on the Easter holiday weekend. Treasury gave no indication when it will actually release the report.
The U.S. Business and Industry Council, a trade group, said the administration apparently would delay the release of the report until after the G20 summit meeting in June.
A declaration that China manipulated its currency would trigger negotiations between Washington and Beijing and potentially lead to sanctions if China refused to yield by moving toward a more flexible currency rate.
"A move by China to a more market-oriented exchange rate will make an essential contribution to global rebalancing，" Geithner said.
Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are due to travel to Beijing in late May for a set of talks called the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and there are meetings of G20 finance ministers in Washington later this month as well as a summit of G20 political leaders in Canada in June.
