Congress tries to legislate Asian currency manipulation.

The growing rancor over Asian currency manipulation is beginning to materialize in congressional legislation aimed at forcing China to stop undervaluing its currency and allowing it to float on currency markets.

The Bush administration has opened the legislative window. Treasury Secretary John Snow's recent trip to China, where he discussed that nation's currency practices, "completely legitimizes this issue, which is a very major step," says one congressional aide working on China currency legislation. "The administration can't pretend it's not a real issue if they've…