Standing in front of a large American flag draped on an office wall at Duferco Farrell Corp., U.S. Rep. Phil English unveiled a measure he said would curb China currency abuses.

"No one engages in currency manipulation like China,'' said English, the Republican 3rd-District congressman from Erie.

American manufacturers and unions have long complained the Chinese are artificially manipulating their currency, called the yuan. As a result, the currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent against the dollar, creating a 40 percent disadvantage on Chinese imports into the United States.

Last year the American trade deficit with China hit $103 billion, and current estimates are this year's deficit will top $120 billion.

A bill co-introduced by English which bears the acronym CHINA -- The Currency Harmonization Initiative through Neutralizing Action Act of 2003 -- would impose tit-for-tat tariffs on Chinese imports to neutralize China's currency advantage.