The China currency mess

If China wants to subsidize our purchases of their goods, that is fine with me. Where China is getting its wealth is from stealing our intellectual property, not from selling us their products at below cost. The Obama administration isn't doing what is right and oppose the new law being debated this week in the Senate. Unfortunately, the initial vote yesterday only had 16 Republicans and 3 Democrats opposing penalties on China for a low exchange rate. From the Financial Times:

The chairman of the US Federal Reserve has accused China of damaging prospects for a global economic recovery through its deliberate intervention in the currency market to hold down the value of the renminbi.
Speaking just hours after the Chinese government sharply criticised a US congressional bill that would punish Beijing for alleged currency manipulation, Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee that an undervalued renminbi was preventing the rebalancing of global demand towards emerging market economies.
“Right now, our concern is that the Chinese currency policy is blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy,” he said. “It is to some extent hurting the recovery”.
The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Monday to open debate on a bill, clearly aimed at China, that would impose tariffs on imports from countries with undervalued currencies. On Tuesday, the Chinese government blasted the bill in three statements released simultaneously by the foreign ministry, the central bank and the ministry of commerce, saying the legislation could spark a “trade war”. . . .