BEIJING, June 24 -- Senior US officials have warned that imposing punitive trade sanctions against China won't protect U.S. jobs.

    US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow have warned that imposing punitive trade sanctions against China may slow the drive to persuade China to adopt a more flexible currency and won't protect U.S. jobs.

    Greenspan said that a policy to dismantle the global trading system is in a misguided effort to protect jobs from competition and would redound to the eventual detriment of all U.S. job-seekers, as well as millions of American consumers.

    Both agreed that it would be futile to try to force Beijing to do so through trade sanctions.

    Snow said financial diplomacy was working and that China could and should adopt a more flexible currency, which would have the effect of making its imports more expensive relatively for U.S. consumers.

    He added that any of the punitive legislative proposals before Congress now would be counterproductive at this time.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)