As President Obama travels to China this week, the Fair Currency Coalition is stepping up its efforts to revive currency manipulation legislation, though industry sources acknowledge that the chances for any significant breakthrough with the Chinese range from slim to none.

A revived effort is under way in Congress to gain wide bipartisan backing for the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, according to Charles Blum, executive director of the Fair Currency Coalition, which has strong representation from steel-related groups among its membership.

As a presidential candidate, then-Sen. Obama backed a crackdown on nations manipulating their currencies to gain unfair trade advantages. As President, however, Obama's Treasury Department twice has passed on the opportunity to label the Chinese as currency manipulators in its semi-annual reports to Congress on the issue.

"We don't fault...