WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday warned lawmakers that requiring enforceable currency provisions in trade deals could sink talks for a major Pacific trade pact.
In a letter to lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the administration supported a currency objective in a proposed bill to streamline the passage of trade deals, but that potential trade partners have made clear enforceable currency provisions would not be accepted.
"Our partners fear that a trade agreement with an enforceable currency discipline could constrain the ability of their monetary authorities to conduct appropriate macroeconomic policies, and that is a risk they are unwilling to take," Lew said in the letter made public by the Treasury.