Romney calls on Obama to label China a currency manipulator

US President Barack Obama’s administration should formally declare China a currency manipulator in a semi-annual report due to be released by the US Treasury on October 15, a spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Monday.

“Governor Romney believes China should be labelled a currency manipulator – without delaying the report – and he will move to label them as such on Day One,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an e-mailed reply to a query.

A spokeswoman for the US Treasury Department declined to say whether the Obama administration would release the politically sensitive report on time or delay it until after the November 6 election.

The Obama administration has frequently delayed the currency report, which examines the foreign exchange practices of major US trading partners, as did the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.

Many US manufacturers and lawmakers complain that China deliberately undervalues it currency to give its companies an unfair price advantage in international trade.

The Obama administration has pressed China diplomatically on currency issue and can point to a significant rise in the value of China’s yuan since it took office.