The new shepherd of US trade policy on Capitol Hill is seeking to toughen the Obama administration’s position on currency manipulation, which could raise frictions with China and countries including Japan that are in talks to form a new Asia-Pacific trade pact.

Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who recently took over as chairman of the Senate finance committee, said currency manipulation was a “major challenge” for US workers and manufacturers last week in his opening statement at a hearing with Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary. Mr Wyden said a number of colleagues had raised the matter, and he wanted to work with Mr Lew to “ensure that our country is doing all it can to address misaligned currencies”

His remarks stand in contrast to the approach of Max Baucus, his predecessor on the committee and the new US ambassador to Beijing, who was more sympathetic to the White House and Treasury position that currency levels are best dealt with through diplomacy rather than punitive measures. Mr Wyden’s stance has raised expectations that the Oregon Democrat will try to force the administration into embracing new currency standards in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and revive congressional efforts to punish China for artificially stifling the renminbi.