WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - Unfair Chinese trade andcurrency practices caused the loss of as many as 2.4 millionU.S. jobs between 2001 and 2008, according to a study releasedon Tuesday.
The report by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institutesaid China"s "currency manipulation" was a major cause of theUnited States" trade deficit with China, though it said otherChinese practices contributed to the deficit.
The report comes ahead of an April 15 semi-annual report bythe Treasury Department in which it must decide again whetherto label China a currency manipulator. U.S. lawmakers in recentweeks have been pressuring the Obama administration to labelChina as a currency manipulator, something that U.S. PresidentBarack Obama, like his predecessor, George W. Bush, has so farresisted.
The institute"s report cited intervention by China inmaintaining its yuan currency as the key problem.
"This intervention makes the yuan artificially cheap andprovides an effective subsidy on Chinese exports," Robert E.Scott, an EPI economist and author of the report, said in astatement.
"Unless China raises the real value of the yuan by at least40 percent and eliminates other trade distortions, the U.S.trade deficit and job losses will continue to grow rapidly,"Scott said.
The U.S. trade deficit with China grew from $83 billion in2001 to a record $268 billion in 2008 before falling to $226million in 2009 alongside a collapse in world trade.
The report said that other Chinese practices, including"massive" industrial subsidies, lax enforcement of labor andenvironmental laws, intellectual property theft and piracy andmarket access barriers, have also contributed to the deficit.
The report estimated that 2.4 million U.S. jobs have beenlost or displaced in the United States as a result of theburgeoning trade deficit since China joined the World TradeOrganization in late 2001.
"Growing trade deficits cost jobs in every state andcongressional district ... including the District of Columbiaand Puerto Rico," the report said.
"The computer, electronic equipment and parts industriesexperienced the largest growth in trade deficits with China,resulting in 628,000 job losses -- 26 percent of all jobsdisplaced by trade between 2001 and 2008," the report said.
Last week, 130 members of the U.S. House of Representativesurged Obama to formally label China a currency manipulator inthe April 15 Treasury Department report on foreign exchangepractices of major U.S. trade partners.
A bipartisan group of senators also introduced legislationlast week threatening China with U.S. duties on its exports toprod Beijing on the currency front.
The lawmakers believe China deliberately undervalues itcurrency by up to 40 percent, giving Chinese competitors anunfair price advantage that has led to U.S. job losses.
China has denied it is manipulating its currency and warnedit will retaliate if its goods are hit with duties in the spat. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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