Group urges shift in China tie to U.S. currency

Monday, April 18, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial nations intensified calls for China to loosen the tie between its currency and the U.S. dollar after two years of diplomacy failed.

U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, who led the G-7's weekend gathering in Washington, said China could and should embrace a looser exchange rate immediately. Canadian counterpart Ralph Goodale said China should understand there is a "freight train coming" as the U.S. Senate and the European Union weigh tariffs or import restrictions on Chinese goods.

The sharper rhetoric toward China in G-7 interviews and news conferences marks a shift in the group's efforts to coax the world's largest developing economy into ending its decade-old peg.

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