China's recent moves to end a peg between its yuan and the dollar were mere gestures and not real reform, a Republican senator said on Friday as he urged Congress to take action against Beijing.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the decision by the Treasury Department on Thursday not to name China a currency manipulator underlined the ineffectiveness of the U.S. effort to persuade Beijing to let its currency appreciate.

"This report reinforces (that) the only remedy available is for Congress to pass legislation addressing currency manipulation," Graham said. "The distortion of the Chinese currency has gone on too long and cost too many American jobs."