Last week we reported that a new report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that if China were to revalue its currency, the U.S. economy would enjoy significant economic benefits, including  the create of as many as 2.25 million American jobs-- enough to increase total U.S. employment by 1.6%. This report affirms the need for Congress to pass tough legislation to address China’s blatant currency manipulation, and it seems that the media and some top economists are finally catching on.

For example, following a luncheon at the Aspen Institute in Washignton, DC last week Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan admitted that  “What [the Chinese] are doing is the definition of currency manipulation.” The  significance of a statement like this coming from Greenspan did not go unnoticed: As Bloomberg’s Mark Drajem reported,

“that remark by Greenspan may provide fodder for lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate who are again ramping up pressure for legislation that would let companies petition higher duties on imports to compensate for a weak Chinese yuan. In its twice-yearly reports to Congress, the U.S. Treasury Department has refrained from labeling China a currency manipulator.”

In statement last week, Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Executive Director Scott Paul touted the importance of Congressional action on this crucial issue:

“A year has passed since China made a phony pledge to let the yuan appreciate. If the Administration will not get tough and demand that China play by the rules, Congress will have no option but to pass tough bipartisan legislation to counter the artificial and unfair advantage that China enjoys on trade. Doing so would be a deficit-reducing, job-creating, no-cost stimulus that is desperately needed.”

Paul is not alone in his condemnation of China’s currency manipulation: A discharge petition is currently circulating in an attempt to force a House vote on the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, and the House and Senate sponsors of the legislation are calling for prompt action to bring the measure to a vote.

AAM applauds this effort, which has become necessary in light of the failure on the part of the Obama Administration to even name China a currency manipulator and House Republican Leadership to bring H.R. 639 to a vote.

Read more about China’s currency manipulation.