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U.S. Adopts Tougher Stance on China By SEWELL CHAN WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is moving to take a harder stance on the Chinese government’s trade and currency policies, with anger toward China rising in both political parties ahead of midterm elections. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, in separate hearings before House and Senate panels, plans to acknowledge on Thursday that China has kept the value of its currency, the renminbi, artificially low to help its exports and has largely failed to improve the situation as it promised to do in June. “We are concerned, as are many of China’s...

Yuan revaluation may remain on back burner: experts English.news.cn 2010-05-19 10:37:24 FeedbackPrintRSS BEIJING, May 19 -- The chances of an early revaluation of the renminbi look unlikely and could happen much later than expected, considering that the nation's trade surplus may see steep erosions due to the European debt crisis and the growing trade protectionist measures against China's exports, leading economists and experts said on Tuesday. Earlier estimates were that the nation would allow the renminbi to rise during the second quarter, with overall gains of 3 to 5 percent for the whole year. Economists now consider such a move...

U.S. Lawmaker: China Must Lift Yuan by Significant Amount Tuesday, 27 Apr 2010 08:07 AM China needs to raise the value of its currency by a "significant" amount or the United States will take action, a top U.S. lawmaker said in the latest sign that tensions on the yuan remain high. "I think 2 to 3 percent over a year would be totally unsatisfactory," House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin said Monday, commenting on a market estimate about the size of a possible move. "I think it has to be significant. It doesn't have to be...

US delaying currencies report amid China dispute By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer Sat Apr 3, 11:04 pm ET WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is delaying a report to Congress on currency policies amid calls from some lawmakers that it should cite China as a currency manipulator harmful to the U.S. economy. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Saturday that he will delay publication of the report, due April 15, because several high-level international meetings in the coming months will be a better way to advance the United States' position. Still, Geithner said in a statement that China should adopt "a...

U.S. yuan critics are like cruel "Avatar" troops: report BEIJING Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:16am EDT BEIJING (Reuters) - First it was environmentalists and indigenous activists; now China's beleaguered financial officials are being compared to the giant, blue-skinned heroes of the mega blockbuster film "Avatar." A commentary in the official China Daily, "Like the Na'vi, we'll decide, thanks," on Thursday blasted the critics of China's currency policy, comparing them to the greedy corporation ripping apart the planet of Pandora in James Cameron's 3-D epic. "The sound and fury in the United States over China's valuation of the yuan reminds me...

Paul Krugman, Shadow Treasury Secretary, Misreads China by Francis Cianfrocca /snip The Chinese know it’s undervalued. They can see it in consumer-price inflation, which is now up between 2 and 3 percent after being negative for much of 2009. They can see it in a 15% jump in housing prices in some cities. And they can see it in the growing concern among ordinary Chinese about the falling real value of their savings and their ability to keep up their headlong dash to prosperity. For all the talk about China powering a global recovery on a flood of government-driven investment,...

North Korean Money Shift Sparks Violence By EVAN RAMSTAD SEOUL -- New reports emerged Tuesday of protests and deadly violence in North Korea as the country's authoritarian regime over the past week seized most of its citizens' money and savings via a new-currency issue. Open Radio for North Korea, a Seoul-based shortwave radio station that broadcasts news to the North, said police killed two men in Pyongsong, a market center outside of Pyongyang, on Friday after they divided their savings among a large group of people and urged them to exchange the money for them, attempting to get around the...

North Korea rushes to starvation December 09, 2009 Olivia Ward North Korea's beleaguered people are used to running on empty. But a silent catastrophe that is looming in the secretive dictatorship may push the poorest beyond the point of no return. A sudden revaluation has left the currency worthless, threatening collapse of the fragile food market. "This could start widespread starvation deaths in the hungry season, after the last harvest runs out," said Andrew Natsios of Georgetown University, author of The Great North Korean Famine. "There are a number of alarming things happening at once, and people may not be...

Winter of discontent looms for N Korea By Christian Oliver and Kang Buseong in Seoul Published: December 9 2009 07:41 | Last updated: December 9 2009 07:41 The North Korean grapevine is delivering stories of increasing hunger and shortages sparking rare public dissent in the wake of last week’s redenomination of the currency just as the country’s bitter winter closes in. The change to the new won, which carry a face value of 1 per cent of that of old won, was supposed to be completed over the weekend, but reports suggest the situation is still unsettled and confused though...

'Women Power' Gathers Against N.Korean Currency Shock North Korea's women are emerging as a formidable force in the face of controversial currency reforms, sources said Monday. Most of the market traders in the North are women in their 40s and 50s trying to earn enough to feed their children. And now they are openly expressing their anger as the draconian reforms, which replace the currency at a rate of 100:1 and effectively confiscate any savings, make their lives even more difficult. "The women are tough and defiant," a source said, "and now they are angry. Markets are turning into places...

N.Korea's Currency Reform 'a Bid to Cement Power' The biggest motivation behind North Korea's sudden currency reform Tuesday appears to be Kim Jong-il's intention to throttle the emerging free market, which appears to hamper a smooth succession of power to his son Kim Jong-un, North Korea experts and South Korean government officials say. The North announced the won would be revalued at a rate of 100:1. But some experts say the aim is wealth redistribution, while others believe the reform is aimed at containing inflation, which has skyrocketed since North Korea introduced rudiments of a market economy in 2002. Kim,...

(2nd LD) N. Korea revalues currency for first time in 17 yrs: sources By Kim Hyun SHENYANG, China/SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has sharply raised the value of its currency, its first such move in 17 years, in an apparent bid to tackle inflation and curb black market trading, sources said Tuesday. North Korean sources who engage in trade with China in the eastern Chinese city of Shenyang told Yonhap News Agency that the North Korean government implemented the currency reform as of 11 a.m. Monday and the exchange for the new currency began at 2 p.m. Data...

China's Export Machine Threatened by Rising Costs Orders Drop, Shops Idle in Sweater City; Losing Wal-Mart By JAMES T. AREDDY June 30, 2008; Page A1 HONGHE, China -- As a sign over its main boulevard proclaims, Honghe is "China's Famous Town for Sweaters." But the economy of sweater town is unraveling, providing an early sign that China's manufacturing sector may be entering middle age. WSJ's James Areddy details the decline of a sweater-making town in China that's suffering due to falling demand from a key market: the U.S. (June 30) Over the past two decades, this city about 90 minutes'...

China can no longer delay action on rates and yuan Standing before China's central bank in Beijing it's hard not to feel as if you are at the center of the universe. Londoners, New Yorkers and Tokyo residents may object to that characterization, yet perhaps no institution will be more in the spotlight in 2008. While the Federal Reserve in Washington, the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and the Bank of Japan in Tokyo will do their thing, events in Beijing may matter most. The next 12 months will force the People's Bank of China to make prickly decisions it...

The Rumors have been flying around this morning that there has been a revaluation of the Iraqi Dinar. I haven't been able to find any official confirmation of a reval, yet. Has anyone else heard any news along these lines?

Page 1 Property inspections are a required part of this revaluation process. 1. Who will inspect my property? Property inspections will be conducted by trained inspectors from Realty Appraisal Company, which has been contracted to perform your community’s revaluation. Realty Appraisal Company is a professional property appraisal company with over 50 years of experience in performing property revaluations. 2.What about my safety and security? Inspectors will be wearing photo I.D. Badges. Don't let anyone into your home unless they are wearing a badge. Inspectors will only enter a house if an adult is home. Inspectors will not enter houses...

  Asia-Pacific China July trade surplus hits record $14.6bn BEIJING (Reuters) - Aug 10, 2006 China's trade surplus set a record in July for the third month in a row, the government said on Thursday, underscoring growing concerns among policy makers about China's economic imbalances. The customs administration said the surplus rose to $14.6 billion from $10.4 billion in July 2005.Economists polled by Reuters had expected the surplus to be unchanged from June's $14.5 billion.Cheng Manjiang, an economist with Bank of China International in Beijing, said the surplus may peak this quarter, especially if the government makes good on...

All Headline News reported that Japanese exporters are trying to take advantage of the rise in the Yen rate. When the dollar spikes, they try to sell it in order to save up for later purchases in the year. The current yen rate hovers around 114 yen = $1. I remember when it was 260 yen = $1. Some of my missionary friends tell me of a time when it was 350 = $1. When Japan started to produce quality products for very affordable prices, everyone started crying 'foul' and 'undervalued,' and then trade imbalances started growing. In the end,...

Orford selectmen are defying a state order to use updated property-tax assessments that include valuable views on some land. The townwide revaluation by Avitar Associates of New England found that views added $100,000 or more to the value of some properties, leading to protests against what some called a "view tax." This month, the state Board of Tax and Land Appeals ordered the town to use the new revaluation instead of the previous one, performed in 1997, because state law requires towns to update their assessments every five years. The board also ordered Avitar to provide more justification for the...

China revalues yuan Ends peg to the U.S. dollar that was under fire from critics; first step in currency reform. July 21, 2005: 7:22 AM EDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China scrapped the yuan's peg to the U.S. dollar Thursday and tied it to a basket of currencies, the central bank said, the first steps in highly anticipated reforms aimed at letting the currency float freely. The new yuan rate versus the dollar revalues the currency by 2.1 percent, to 8.11 per U.S. dollar as of 7 a.m. ET, the central bank said on its Web site. Under the previous policy,...