Washington, May 9:

American manufacturing executives on Tuesday urged the US government to get tougher with China on exchange rates, claiming the modest rise in the yuan has done little to ease the massive US trade deficit.

The National Association of Manufacturers’ US-China Business Relations Task Force made the comments after meeting with with senior administration officials including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

“Despite strong efforts on a variety of issues, the US-China trade deficit continues to widen,” said Michael Campbell, chief executive of Arch Chemicals and chairman of the task force.

“We voiced our concerns on how to best deal with this issue, notably pressing for faster appreciation of the yuan in this month’s Strategic Economic Dialogue and further enforcement of international agreements.” Paulson last year established the strategic dialogue to cover key areas of concern for the US and China. The group meets in Washington later this month.