Saying that China's currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent, U.S. Rep. Phil English along with two other congressmen on Wednesday introduced legislation that calls for tariffs if it's found that China is illegally manipulating its currency.

China's government sets the exchange rate for its currency, called the yuan and sometimes the renminbi, and only allows it to trade in a very narrow range. The United States and other countries have asked China to "float'' the yuan, which means it would be subject to the regular ups and downs in the open trading market like most other currencies.

Last year America's trade deficit with China was about $103 billion, which English said has socked American manufacturers.

"Our trade deficit with China is the largest bilateral trade deficit in the world and illustrates what many of us already know: that this trade relationship is largely skewed and cannot continue without serious adjustments,'' said English, of Erie, R-3rd District. "The artificially valued yuan has allowed Chinese products to be sold here at below the cost of production. Our manufacturers can compete on a level playing field, but not with unfairly priced imports from China flooding our markets.''