BALDRIGE SUPPORTS NIC TALKS ON CURRENCIES

  Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige
  said he supported efforts to persuade newly-industrialized
  countries (NICS) to revalue currencies that are tied to the
  dollar in order to help the United States cut its massive trade
  deficit.
      "We do need to do something with those currencies or we
  will be substituting Japanese products for Taiwanese products,"
  or those of other nations with currencies tied to the dollar,
  Baldrige told a House banking subcommittee.
      The U.S. dollar has declined in value against the Yen and
  European currencies, but has changed very little against the
  currencies of some developing countries such as South Korea and
  Taiwan because they are linked to the value of the dollar.
      As a result, efforts to reduce the value of the dollar over
  the past year and a half have done little to improve the trade
  deficits with those countries.
      Baldrige told a House Banking subcommittee that the
  Treasury Department was attempting to persuade those countries
  to reach agreement with the United States on exchange rates.
  

