The American Iron & Steel Institute and five other North American steel industry trade associations sent a letter to the US, Canadian and Mexican Trade and Finance Ministers urging strong and coordinated efforts during the G 20 Summit and beyond to achieve a large and sustained appreciation of China's currency.

The letter emphasizes that, without a meaningful change in Chinese government currency policy, it will not be possible to eliminate the structural imbalances that contributed to the global economic crisis or to achieve the NAFTA governments’ major goals for economic recovery, job creation and significantly increasing exports especially of manufactured goods.

The letter explained that "The Chinese government’s ongoing massive interventions to keep the CNY pegged to the US dollar result in a seriously undervalued exchange rate. It has caused the loss of millions of good manufacturing jobs in North American over the past decade, and is now a major impediment to economic recovery and industrial employment in the NAFTA region."

The letter also noted that "The CNY is the most seriously undervalued major currency in the world giving Chinese manufacturers a 40% artificial competitive advantage."

Other steel trade associations joining AISI in issuing the letter are Canadian Steel Producers Association, Committee on Pipe & Tube Imports, Mexican Steel Producers Association, Specialty Steel Industry of North America and the Steel Manufacturers Association.

The letter was sent to Mr Ronald Kirk US Trade Representative, Mr Timothy Geithner US Treasury Secretary, Mr Peter van Loan Canadian International Trade Minister, Mr Jim Flaherty Canadian Minister of Finance and Mr Ernesto Cordero Arroyo Mexico's Trade Minister Act.