Ryan criticizes Obama on Chinese currency manipulation label

By Keith Laing - 10/13/12 06:23 PM ET

Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) attacked the Obama administration Saturday for not identifying China as a currency manipulator.

In a campaign appearance in Youngstown, Ohio, Ryan said the Obama administration would miss a deadline on Monday to formally declare that China is manipulating its currency to ensure its value is strong against other nations' money.

“The administration had their eighth chance to label China a currency manipulator,” Ryan said at the town hall event. “It’s due in two days. They said they’re going to push this deadline off until after the election. That’s eight opportunities they’ve had to say, ‘You know what? Play fair with us. Trade with us fairly.’”

The Obama campaign responded to Ryan’s remarks by criticizing Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s record on economic issues involving China.

“Congressman Ryan’s tough rhetoric can’t hide the fact that Mitt Romney will never crack down on China’s cheating – just look at his record,” Obama campaign spokesman Danny Kanner said in a statement.

“When President Obama stood up to China on behalf of American tire workers, Romney called it ‘decidedly bad for the nation,'” Kanner continued. “In the private sector, he led investments in companies that shipped American jobs to China, and in a Chinese company known for the cheating he condemns today. Now, experts say his tax plan could create as many as 800,000 jobs overseas while independent economists agree his plans could slow our recovery and cost us American jobs.

“A PowerPoint can’t hide the simple truth: all Romney and Ryan are offering is the same failed policies that led to the crisis and punished middle class families in the first place,” Kanner concluded.

Romney kept up the attack during a rally later Saturday in Portsmouth, Ohio, repeating a pledge to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in the Oval Office.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that it was delaying the release of its report to Congress on international trade practices "in order to assess progress following the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting next month."

--This report was originally posted at 12:46 p.m. and last updated at 6:23 p.m.