DAVOS, Switzerland — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he wants other Group of Seven countries to get tougher with China on the issue of currency controls.

Flaherty says he can't speak for all ministers attending the next gathering of the world's leading industrial countries in Tokyo on Feb. 9.

But he says Canada will be firm in its stance that China allow its currency, the yuan, to rise in value.

Flaherty, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press at the economic summit in Davos, Switzerland, said emerging economies like China that participate in trading relationships have to take on the responsibility of market currencies.

Beijing has allowed the yuan to rise gradually, but the United States and others are pressing for faster action.

At the last meeting in October, the finance chiefs called on China to relax controls on the yuan, but the statement wasn't as strong as some wanted.

Flaherty's call will be welcomed by American manufacturers and those legislators in the U.S. Congress who blame Chinese currency policies for hurting U.S. exports and contributing to the loss of factory jobs.

Meanwhile, Flaherty discussed the weak American dollar's effect on the Canadian economy and how Ottawa is preparing to deal with the current economic slowdown.

"Without getting into a recession or not a recession, reduced economic growth in the United States directly affects Canada, particularly a reduction in consumer confidence (and) consumer spending in the United States,'' Flaherty said.

The Canadian dollar has appreciated over 60 per cent against its U.S. counterpart in the last half-decade, surpassing the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years last September.

Flaherty said the rise of Canada's commodity-backed currency against the U.S. dollar has been hard on Canadian manufacturers, especially in the automotive sector, which sends 90 per cent of the vehicles it assembles to the United States.

But he also cited more affordable access to machinery and equipment for Canadian manufacturers, which has helped increase productivity, he said.

Everyone is still trying to gauge the breadth and depth of the economic turmoil in the United States, Flaherty added.

"The encouraging part is people are looking to changes, to issues relating to proper supervision in the financial institutions, to appropriate uses of rating agencies, to best practices, even sovereign wealth funds,'' Flaherty said.