LAHAINA, Hawaii, July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic
lawmaker Sander Levin said on Wednesday he was pushing for
Pacific trading partners to do more on currency issues after the
United States proposed a separate forum on ways to stop
countries deliberately weakening exchange rates.
Countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
free trade talks are considering a U.S. proposal for finance
ministers to discuss currency questions, Australian Trade
Minister Andrew Robb said on Tuesday. ID:nL1N10906M
The move falls short of demands from U.S. lawmakers for
tough rules against currency cheating, including from Levin,
whose state of Michigan is home to U.S. automakers such as Ford
Motor Co F.N worried about competition from Japan under the
TPP.
"There are discussions going on to see if a provision can go
beyond having meetings of ministers," said Levin, who is
attending ministerial talks aimed at wrapping up the deal.
"It's about really trying to make a currency provision
something effective and more than consultations."
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Asia senior vice president Tami
Overby said it was too early to say if the proposal was
acceptable.
"I'm glad to see that people are trying to be creative and
we need to find a way to deal with this outside of a trade
agreement," she said.
Weaker exchange rates make a country's exports cheaper and
give exporters a competitive advantage.