US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner encouraged the US Congress to raise pressure on China to force it to allow the renminbi to rise, but fended off American lawmakers’ demands to impose aggressive legal or administrative measures, the Financial Times reported. His comments come amid renewed anger in Congress about the impact on the US economy of China’s tight grip on its currency. Before Geithner appeared in front of a Senate banking committee on Thursday, Beijing hit back at criticism of its currency policy. "I would point out that appreciation of the renminbi will not solve the US deficit and unemployment problems," said Jiang Yu, spokeswoman at the Chinese foreign ministry. US lawmakers have demanded that the administration declare Chinese currency manipulation to be an illegal export subsidy, making way for increased emergency tariffs the US can impose on imports it deems subsidized. Another call is to take the case to the World Trade Organization.