Former Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Ed Case said that if he were still in Congress, he would vote in favor of a bill that would penalize China for manipulating its currency to gain a trade advantage. 

DC808 caught up with Case in Washington on Thursday. He traveled to the region to fundraise and participate in a panel about China as part of the Washington Ideas Forum.

“China is clearly manipulating its currency,” Case said. It’s clearly an unfair trade practice. It clearly falls into the category of a government subsidy that in the normal (World Trade Organization) context is not acceptable and constitutes unfair trade under the standards of the world. China knows it. We know it. Everybody else knows it.”

Those who are against the measure — including Sen. Daniel Inouye — have said that the issue is better handled by federal agencies, and that Congress’ interference could unnecessarily anger China or even set off a trade war. 

“That is the risk of the vote,” Case said. “In that sense, it’s a difficult vote. The vote is the lesser of two evils. One evil is to call a spade a spade, and call China on it. The alternative is to do nothing and China is going to go on doing what it’s doing and that’s only going to hurt the U.S.”

 A Senate vote on the controversial measure could come as early as tonight. Check Civil Beat later for more from our interview with Case.