Obama Talks Tough: Chinese Reaction

(BON News)



U.S. President Barack Obama says last week his administration is putting increased pressure on China to open up its domestic market further to reciprocal trade.

Speaking at a Washington meeting with Democratic Party senators on February 3, Obama said that if the United States can increase its trade with Asia by even one percentage point that will create thousands, maybe millions, of new U.S. jobs.

He said the important thing is to get Beijing to live up to existing trade rules. Obama also raised the thorny issue of the exchange rate of the Chinese yuan, which for years U.S. officials have considered to be deliberately undervalued by China. Experts estimate the yuan is presently undervalued by about 30 percent overall against major world currencies and about 40 percent against the dollar.