WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. bill to pressure China into letting its currency rise in value, which has drawn warnings from Beijing of a possible trade war, ran into opposition from the top Republican in Congress on Tuesday.

The strong misgivings of House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner were the first clear sign the currency legislation might fizzle out, as similar bills have done since lawmakers began targeting China’s yuan policy in 2005.

“I think it’s pretty dangerous to be moving legislation through the United States Congress forcing someone to deal with the value of their currency,” Boehner told reporters.

“While I’ve got concerns about how the Chinese have dealt with their currency, I’m not sure this is the way to fix it.”

On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to open debate on a bill that calls for U.S. tariffs on imports from countries with deliberately undervalued currencies, prompting an angry rebuke from China.

Many economists say China holds down the value of its yuan currency to give its exporters an edge in global markets. China says it is committed to gradual currency reform and notes that the yuan has risen 30 percent against the dollar since 2005.

House speakers normally get their way on legislation. But Boehner has to contend this time with signs of growing support from rank-and-file members of his own party for the currency bill and tough talk about China from a top Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – A U.S. bill to pressure China into letting its currency rise in value, which has drawn warnings from Beijing of a possible trade war, ran into opposition from the top Republican in Congress on Tuesday.

Strong misgivings expressed by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner were the first clear sign the currency legislation might fizzle out like similar bills since lawmakers began targeting China’s yuan policy in 2005.

“I think it’s pretty dangerous to be moving legislation through the United States Congress forcing someone to deal with the value of their currency,” Boehner said.

On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to open debate on a bill that calls for U.S. tariffs on imports from countries with deliberately undervalued currencies, prompting an angry rebuke from China.

Officials in Beijing have accused lawmakers of pandering to U.S. voters ahead of next year’s presidential and congressional elections. U.S. critics of the bill have said it could stoke trade tensions just as the world economy is facing a sharp slowdown in growth.

“While I’ve got concerns about how the Chinese have dealt with their currency, I’m not sure this is the way to fix it,” Boehner told reporters.

House speakers normally get their way on legislation. But Democrats promptly urged Boehner to keep a promise he made when he took office in January and let the House to “work its will.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Monday told a top Russian official he was confident that Russia would be able resolve remaining issues in order to join the World Trade Organization this year.

“We had a very productive conversation about Russia’s bid to join the World Trade Organization. Russia has made great progress on its accession bid,” Kirk said in a statement.

His office provided further details of the meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who is lead negotiator on Russia’s bid to join the WTO.

“I look forward to continuing to work with Minister Shuvalov and others in Russia as the process moves toward its successful conclusion,” Kirk added.

The final talks have focused on issues ranging from Russia’s meat import quotas to U.S. and European concerns about rules government investment in Russia’s auto sector.

“Ambassador Kirk expressed confidence that remaining issues, including satisfactory resolution of bilateral discussions between Russia and Georgia, would be addressed constructively and in a manner enabling Russia to meet its objective of concluding the WTO negotiations by the end of the year,” Kirk’s office said.

Political concerns raised by Georgia, which fought a brief war with Russia in August 2008, have been a major stumbling block to a final deal.

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Monday took aim at one of China’s core economic policies, voting to move forward with a bill designed to press Beijing to let its currency rise in value in the hope of creating U.S. jobs.

Senators voted 79-19 to open a week of Senate debate on the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011, which would allow the U.S. government to slap countervailing duties on products from countries found to be subsidizing their exports by undervaluing their currencies.

The procedural vote sets the stage for a battle between lawmakers who say the bill will return to the United States many jobs lost to China and critics who warn it could spark a trade war and will fail to help American workers.

“My colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, agree that China’s deliberate actions to devalue its currency give its goods an unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“It hurts our economy. It costs American jobs,” he said.

Monday’s strong green light for debate on the bill bolsters prospects it will clear the Democrat-run Senate later this week, but prospects for action in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are murky.

If the bill did clear both chambers, it would present President Barack Obama with a tough decision on whether to sign the popular legislation into law and risk a trade war with Beijing, or veto it to pursue a more diplomatic approach.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A years-long deadlock on free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama appeared close to an end on Monday as President Barack Obama formally submitted the pacts to Congress for approval.

“The series of trade agreements I am submitting to Congress today will make it easier for American companies to sell their products in South Korea, Colombia, and Panama and provide a major boost to our exports,” Obama said in a statement.

The three deals were all negotiated during the Republican administration of President George W. Bush, but he was unable to win approval for them from a wary Democratic-controlled Congress before leaving office in January 2009.

“We’ve worked hard to strengthen these agreements to get the best possible deal for American workers and businesses, and I call on Congress to pass them without delay,” Obama said.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, said he expected the House to pass the agreements next week.

Obama has touted the trade deals as a vital part of his effort to revitalize the stagnant U.S. recovery and generate new jobs, considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

Some Republicans put potential job gains in the hundreds of thousands, while detractors predict they will cause job losses through increased imports and more factories moving abroad.

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers will take aim at one of China’s core economic policies on Monday when the Senate begins debating a bill aimed at pressing China to let its currency rise in value in the hope of creating U.S. jobs.

A procedural vote late on Monday is expected to open a week of Senate debate on the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011, which would allow the U.S. government to slap countervailing duties on products from countries found to be subsidizing their exports by undervaluing their currencies.

The legislation is widely expected to clear the Senate, but prospects for action in the House of Representatives are murky. If the bill did clear both chambers, it would present President Barack Obama with a tough decision on whether to sign the popular legislation into law and risk a trade war with Beijing, or veto it to pursue a more diplomatic approach.

Senior White House officials told reporters the Obama administration shares lawmakers’ concern about the Chinese yuan’s exchange rate, although they have not yet taken a position on the bill. With similar legislation in the past, the White House avoided taking a public stance.

Many Democrats in the U.S. Congress, with support from some Republicans, argue that China fixes the yuan at a value below what the market would set, giving Chinese producers an edge in global markets that has contributed to an annual trade deficit with China of more than $250 billion.

In an argument that has gained traction with U.S. unemployment stuck above 9 percent as 2012 elections draw near, supporters of the bill say that if the Chinese currency were allowed to rise in value, Chinese imports would fall and U.S. exports would increase, creating jobs for American workers.

“This will help to level the playing field. China gaming the currency system has clearly undercut our ability to compete in many things,” Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from the manufacturing heartland of Ohio, told Reuters last week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For lawmakers eyeing their re-election prospects next year, this week provides a chance to show they mean business about cracking down on China’s currency practices and returning jobs to America.

Critics say the legislation that looks set to pass Senate this week is more likely to help a factory worker in Hanoi than in Ohio, and could expose the United States to a damaging trade row with its fastest-growing export market.

But those arguments don’t wash with Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from the manufacturing heartland of Ohio.

He recounts U.S. warnings to China going back to the 1990s, when Congress fought annually over trade relations.

“That was back when our trade defict with China was $10 billion. Now it’s $200 billion plus. This will help to level the playing field. China gaming the currency system has clearly undercut our ability to compete in many things,” Brown said.

“We have not been aggressive enough with China. I think it’s cost a lot of people a middle-class standard of living in my state. It’s caused too many teachers and firefighters and police officers to be laid off, when plants are closed and there’s no money to pay them,” Brown said.

Jobs are such a hot topic in early 2012 campaigning that prospects for the China currency bill to pass Congress could be stronger than in previous years, potentially putting President Barack Obama on the spot over whether to veto it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama may send to Congress as early as Monday three long-stalled free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, a senior administration official said Saturday.

The agreements have been awaiting congressional approval for more than four years.

Together, the three pacts are expected to boost exports by about $13 billion a year, which the administration estimates will help create tens of thousands of new jobs.

Some Republicans put potential job gains in the hundreds of thousands, while detractors predict they will cause job losses through increased imports and more factories moving abroad.

Obama has been holding off sending them to Capitol Hill in hopes of getting stronger assurances that a worker-retraining program known as Trade Adjustment Assistance would be approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The Democratic-controlled Senate recently passed a revamped version of the half-century-old TAA program.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the trade deals could be sent to Congress as early as Monday.

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress in coming months could face a tough vote on trade relations with Russia, igniting a potentially fierce debate over Moscow’s record on human rights and the state of its democracy in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s decision to return as president.

International negotiators in Geneva are edging close to an agreement that would allow Russia to join the World Trade Organization after some 18 years of off-and-on talks.

That would require the U.S. Congress to vote to establish “permanent normal trade relations” with Russia by removing a Cold War-era human rights provision known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment that is inconsistent with WTO rules.

Failure to approve the change could put U.S. exporters at a disadvantage to other members of the WTO as Russia opens it market to more foreign trade.

The vote, which is not expected before a final deal to let Russia into the WTO is announced, could dredge up an array of concerns in Congress over issues ranging from Putin’s recent decision to Moscow’s foreign policy.

Putin, a former KGB officer, has remained Russia’s paramount leader despite stepping down from the presidency four years ago to become prime minister. His election as president in March is seen as assured.

Other issues, such as the case of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in November 2009 under suspicious circumstances, are also likely to color the debate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Wednesday said it was “reviewing” a Senate bill to crack down on China’s currency practices after a senior Republican senator demanded the administration lay out its position on the legislation.

“We are reviewing the bill,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “We share the goal of achieving further appreciation of China’s currency.”

“China has moved some in terms of appreciating its currency … But it’s substantially undervalued and we need to see continued progress. And we’ve made that clear publicly and privately,” Carney said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to take up the bipartisan legislation, which is aimed in part at pressuring Beijing to let its yuan currency rise faster, and has told reporters he felt “very confident” it would be approved.

Many U.S. lawmakers believe the yuan is undervalued by as much as 25 percent to 40 percent, giving Chinese companies an unfair price advantage in trade and costing American jobs.

A key provision would instruct the Commerce Department to treat undervalued currencies as a subsidy under U.S. trade law, allowing companies to ask for countervailing duties against imports on a case-by-case basis.

In order to become law, the bill would have to be passed also by the House of Representatives and then be signed by President Barack Obama.