Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tried to dial down the rhetoric on the renminbi Wednesday, although no solution was presented for resolving the nations’ differences, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zhong, making a 30-hour trip to the US, said he was confident the two sides "have the wisdom and ability to resolve existing problems," but reiterated Beijing’s position that currency policy is a domestic issue and there will be no appreciation as a result of outside pressure. Geithner said that he believed China would allow its currency to appreciate over time, admitting that the US “can’t force them to make that change.” The US Treasury Department is due to submit a report to Congress on April 15 in which it may label China a currency manipulator. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told a Congressional committee Wednesday that the renminbi is undervalued against the US dollar by 40%. Removing the disparity would cut the US current account deficit by US$50 billion and create up to 1.2 million US jobs, he said.
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