WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A bill primarily aimed at China imposing new tariffs on countries with undervalued currencies easily passed the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday.
The vote was 348 to 79, The Washington Post reported. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.
The bill would allow the Commerce Department to penalize countries that deliberately undervalue their currency.
While President Obama and his staff have not endorsed the bill, officials have said they will "raise the intensity" of efforts to get China to pull up the value of the renminbi. At the same time, some officials are concerned about the global effect of a trade war between the two economic powers.
"We have to make sure the outcome here is a system where exchange rates are more in line with market forces and the trading system is strong," an official who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity said.
A number of countries whose currencies have been rising against the dollar, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Colombia, have taken steps like buying dollars to halt the trend. Guido Mantegna, the Brazilian finance minister, said this week that a "currency war" has begun, stimulated by other countries' need to stay competitive with China.
