Senate leaders say the Chinese government's practice of forcing the value of the Yuan artificially low, in comparison to the U.S. dollar, gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage in trade, and is harming the American job market. To combat this, the Senate has passed a bipartisan bill, which the White House is reviewing, to pressure Beijing to alleviate some of those financial controls.

China's central bank surprised the global market by increasing its interest rates for the first time since 2007. Being that it's the second largest economy in the world, the decision to increase interest rates has the global economy feeling the effects. Gold and oil prices dropped, while stocks took a negative turn in Europe and the dollar jumped.

Joining us to discuss is Sewell Chan, Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

Chinese exports are cheap, but it's not all lower wages or efficient production. The cost of exports has been held down in recent years because the Chinese government has pegged the Yuan to the dropping dollar. But that may be changing. Murmurs within the halls of China's central bank, and central government, are pointing to an announcement in the coming days that the Yuan may move to a more flexible exchange rate against the dollar. This has big implications for trade, for President Obama, and for American consumers.