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WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - China would face stiff new U.S. penalties if it fails to revalue its currency under a bipartisan bill to be introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, congressional aides said.
Senators Charles Schumer, a member of the Democratic leadership, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican, have scheduled an early afternoon news conference on Tuesday to discuss the new legislation.
They will be accompanied by Senators Debbie Stabenow and Sherrod Brown, both Democrats, and Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican.
Further details of the proposed legislation were not immediately available.
It comes two days after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao dismissed U.S. complaints about China's exchange rate policy and one month before President Barack Obama's administration must decide again whether to label China a currency manipulator in a semiannual report.
Several years ago, Schumer and Graham co-authored a bill that threatened China with a 27.5 percent across-the-board tariff if it did not revalue the yuan.
That bill was passed by the Senate, but Schumer and Graham eventually abandoned it when Beijing began making some movement toward revaluing the yuan.
Many U.S. lawmakers, with strong backing from economists, believe China's yuan is undervalued by 25 to 50 percent, giving Chinese companies an unfair price advantage in trade by effectively subsidizing exports and taxing competing imports.
China did allow its currency to rise in value between July 2005 and July 2008. But since then, it has remained at about 6.83 yuan to the dollar.
Schumer and Graham's latest effort comes as the Obama administration is weighing whether to formally label China as a currency manipulator in a semiannual Treasury Department report due on April 15.
Obama accused China of manipulating its currency for an unfair trade advantage during his 2008 election campaign.
But as president, he has steered away from the politically explosive term in two Treasury Department reports issued under his watch, and in his public comments.
Last week in a speech on his administration's plans to boost exports, he urged China to move to a "more market-oriented exchange rate," adopting the more moderate language of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
But some analysts argue the United States would enjoy broad international support if Obama were to confront China on the currency issue. They say China's currency practices hurt developing countries by robbing them of potential exports. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Kenneth Barry)