The Obama administration declined to label China a currency manipulator in a long-delayed report on Thursday, spurring fresh calls from U.S. lawmakers for tough new steps to pressure Beijing.
Some lawmakers claim China's yuan is misaligned in value, distorting trade and stealing U.S. jobs. A key senator pledged to press ahead with a bill threatening China with tariffs on some of its products unless there is significant movement upward in the yuan.
The U.S. Treasury Department is expected to again decline to name China a currency manipulator in a long-delayed report that will likely anger congressional critics of Beijing's policies.
The report was due April 15 but was delayed until after last month's G20 leaders' summit in Canada. China said just before the G20 met that it will make the yuan's exchange rate more flexible gradually and end a two-year peg to the dollar.
In a blow to Indian jewelers, the US has stopped the duty-free status for gold necklaces from India as the product was found to be competitive in US markets.
Earlier, US used to allow duty-free status to certain products from developing countries to help them expand their economies. Other items that have been struck off the duty-free list are passenger tyres from Thailand and wood flooring from Brazil.
The dollar jumped against the yen but immediately surrendered those gains on Friday after a report showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. June nonfarm payrolls to 125,000, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.5 percent.
Whoever said it's all about the economy, stupid, got it only partially right. It is indeed all about the economy, or at least half of it is about the economy. The rest is about a country's national interest. Typically, nations act or react to situations involving one of the above-mentioned
The dollar extended declines against the yen on Thursday after data showed initial U.S. weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected.
The dollar dropped to 87.49 yen JPY= after the data from around 87.61 prior to the release of the data. The euro fell to $1.2357 EUR= from $1.2369 prior to the data's release. The euro had already risen 1 percent against the dollar before the data's release.
The U.S. dollar's share of global currency reserves eased slightly to 61.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010 as total holdings climbed to a new record, International Monetary Fund data showed on Wednesday.
A broad coalition of U.S. business groups urged senators on Wednesday not to approve a bill that would allow the United States to use import duties against China's exchange rate policy.
We agree that China needs an exchange rate that better responds to global trade flows, the U.S.-China Business Council and about two dozen other groups said in a letter to each member of the Senate.
Figures on Wednesday showing the U.S. private sector added a paltry 13,000 jobs were disappointing and are consistent with expectations for a big drop in the upcoming non-farm payrolls report, Macroeconomic Advisers LLC chairman Joel Prakken said.
U.S. private employers added a paltry 13,000 jobs in June, compared to a revised gain of 57,000 in May, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.
A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the U.S. dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value.
The dollar has proved not to be a stable store of value, which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency, the U.N. World Economic and Social Survey 2010 said.
he Australian Dollar dealt above 0.8700 on Friday night as equity markets traded in a wide range.
World leaders ditched plans to welcome Beijing's shift toward greater exchange rate flexibility at a G20 summit in Toronto on Sunday, highlighting China's sensitivity over the issue.
The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was on track on Saturday to reach the Gulf of Mexico within days, a potential threat to containment and cleanup of the worst ever U.S. oil spill.
The dollar briefly extended declines against the yen on Friday after U.S. government data showed gross domestic economic growth was slower than previously estimated in the first quarter as estimates of business and consumer spending were cut.
U.S. automakers oppose raising the blend of ethanol in gasoline from the current 10 percent, saying cars won't run as well on higher blends, but Brazil's experience shows their arguments are weak.
Small and mid-cap Chinese companies are going offshore to meet their U.S. dollar needs, using guarantees from mainland banks despite the increased costs the deals incur.
With credit controls tightening in China, going offshore for dollar funding had become a lifeline for many of small- and mid-cap companies, according to bank sources, and as such they did not mind the costs incurred with the guarantee structures.
If China does not act soon to raise the value of its currency, the U.S. Congress could pass legislation aimed at forcing Beijing to act, a top Democratic lawmaker said on Wednesday.
The euro fell against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday on fresh concerns about Spain's debt, while global stocks faltered after data showed U.S. housing starts fell more than expected in May to a five-month low.
The European Union, the IMF and the U.S. Treasury are drawing up a liquidity plan for Spain which includes a credit line of up to 250 billion euros ($335 billion), newspaper El Economista reported on Wednesday, citing sources which it said were close to the issuing entity.
Privately held Spirit Airlines said on Sunday it has canceled flights for the next few days as a pilots' strike continued.
Mexico's peso slipped from a three-week high on Friday after an unexpected drop in May U.S. retail sales dented the outlook for Mexican exports.
The peso MXN=MEX01 lost 0.36 percent to 12.7309 per U.S. dollar.
