WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators who authored legislation aimed at pressuring China to lift the value of its yuan said on Thursday they asked the Commerce Department to investigate alleged Chinese currency “manipulation.”

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said the department has legal authority to determine whether China’s currency practices are a form of subsidy and if so, impose tariffs on Chinese imports.

“Commerce has authority under existing law to initiate investigations that can help U.S. industries and protect U.S. jobs, and we are urging the Department to use that authority,” the senators wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. (Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)