A bill passed in the US Senate on Tuesday attempting to make it easier for the United States to impose tariffs on goods from countries which are believed to undervalue their currencies is unlikely to be signed into law by President Obama or supported by Republicans in the House of Representatives, Frank Lavin, Chairman at Edelman Asia Pacific and former Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade told CNBC. Lavin claimed that China was being blamed for economic woes of the US which is struggling to cope with a sluggish economy, rising unemployment and a vast deficit. He added that China, now the world’s second largest economy, had essentially replaced Japan as the scapegoat for troubles within the US economy.