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One step forward, one back
On October the 3rd Obama submitted three long stalled trade agreements to Congress for ratification. Republican and Democraticleaders promised speedy passage. In this date, also, the Senate voted By an overwhelming and bipartisan 79-19 to proceed with a bill that would punish China forkeeping its currency artificially low. 
The legislation enables a co. to demand an investigation of a country it thinks is using an undervalued currency forunfair trade advantage.
If the government concludes that the currency is indeed countervailing duties could be imposed. 
China has given a warning of direconsequences if the bill becomes law.

The House of Representatives has more than enough co-sponsors to guarantee passage, if it gets to a vote. 
Republicanleaders in the house are not inclined to act. A similar bill passed the house and versions of it have repeatedly made progress in the Senate, but none has yetreached a president's desk for signing. 
Congressional threats are a useful crowbar for extracting concessions. 
There are no reasons to believe that the yuanis not as obviously undervalued as it was once. 
Public hostility to free trade has risen, and has been matched by growing political truculence, notes thereport of a task force of trade experts organized by the Council on Foreign Relations. 
The report says Mr. Obama himself violated the spirit of the TPA byinsisting on further concessions from Colombia, Panama and Korea, whose trade agreements were negociated by George Bush in 2006/07.

Sofia Ojeda, EXTRA WORK