Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-102

§5302 Findings

Title 22 › CHAPTER 62 — INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL POLICY › SUBCHAPTER I — EXCHANGE RATES AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY COORDINATION › § 5302

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress says the United States needs better coordination with other big economies on overall economic and exchange-rate policies. Exchange rates and currency values strongly shape what countries make and trade. The rise of the dollar in the early 1980s helped cause the current trade deficit. Big, fast capital movements and volatile exchange rates have sometimes created large, lasting imbalances and made planning hard for businesses and governments. Some countries still try to gain advantage by affecting their currency value, which hurts U.S. industries. A more stable dollar at a level that supports a sustainable U.S. current account should be a main policy goal. Rules for coordinating policy must be strengthened, and, when needed and done with other countries, U.S. action in foreign exchange markets could help markets adjust.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §5302

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Congress finds that—

(1)the macroeconomic policies, including the exchange rate policies, of the leading industrialized nations require improved coordination and are not consistent with long-term economic growth and financial stability;

(2)currency values have a major role in determining the patterns of production and trade in the world economy;

(3)the rise in the value of the dollar in the early 1980’s contributed substantially to our current trade deficit;

(4)exchange rates among major trading nations have become increasingly volatile and a pattern of exchange rates has at times developed which contribute to substantial and persistent imbalances in the flow of goods and services between nations, imposing serious strains on the world trading system and frustrating both business and government planning;

(5)capital flows between nations have become very large compared to trade flows, respond at times quickly and dramatically to policy and economic changes, and, for these reasons, contribute significantly to uncertainty in financial markets, the volatility of exchange rates, and the development of exchange rates which produce imbalances in the flow of goods and services between nations;

(6)policy initiatives by some major trading nations that manipulate the value of their currencies in relation to the United States dollar to gain competitive advantage continue to create serious competitive problems for United States industries;

(7)a more stable exchange rate for the dollar at a level consistent with a more appropriate and sustainable balance in the United States current account should be a major focus of national economic policy;

(8)procedures for improving the coordination of macroeconomic policy need to be strengthened considerably; and

(9)under appropriate circumstances, intervention by the United States in foreign exchange markets as part of a coordinated international strategic intervention effort could produce more orderly adjustment of foreign exchange markets and, in combination with necessary macroeconomic policy changes, assist adjustment toward a more appropriate and sustainable balance in current accounts.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 5302

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102