Congressman Mike Ross speaks out on China's unfair trade practices

Comments of Congressman Mike Ross:

I have said before that we absolutely need trade, but we need fair trade. That means in order to ship “Made in America” goods all over the world, we need a level playing field and we need to hold foreign countries accountable to ensure they play by the same rules as everyone else. Unfortunately, one of our largest trading partners, China, refuses to play by the rules and it is hurting our economy and punishing American workers.

Every country’s currency is traded on the world market, from the dollar here in the U.S. to the rupee in India. However, China has engaged in massive government intervention in the currency markets. They have conspired to keep the value of their currency artificially low compared to the U.S. dollar, a practice that is both wrong and unfair.

By keeping their currency artificially low, China is able to sell its goods cheaper in the U.S., while also making American-made goods more expensive in China. It’s so bad that since China’s 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. has lost nearly three million manufacturing jobs and our overall trade deficit with China has grown from $87 billion in 2001 to $273 billion in 2010.

We import more goods and services from China than from any other country in the world. In fact, our trade deficit with China accounts for nearly 40 percent of our nation’s entire trade deficit. To ignore China’s currency manipulation will continue to punish American workers and America’s economy and it sets a bad example for other countries that might quickly follow suit.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates a 20 percent appreciation of China’s currency would reduce the U.S. trade deficit by up to $120 billion and create a half-million U.S. jobs. This blatant practice of unfair trading practices must be stopped. We cannot stop all trade with China, but we can make it fair.

In an effort to level the playing field with Chinese goods, I have helped introduce legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives called the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, H.R. 639. This bipartisan bill would help create more manufacturing jobs by treating undervalued currencies, like the Chinese, as an illegal subsidy. This designation would allow the U.S. to impose tariffs aimed at offsetting the undervalued currency, particularly where imports have caused material injury to a U.S. industry.

A year ago, this same legislation passed the House of Representative by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin of 348-71. In this Congress, it has 225 cosponsors basically ensuring its passage and a similar bill has also already passed the Senate. That’s why I’m calling on Speaker Boehner and the House Republican leadership to allow an up-or-down vote on this bill as soon as possible. American jobs are on the line.

It’s past time to stop letting China get away with this type of manipulation and hold them accountable to their actions. We need to level the playing field and do all we can to help the “Made in America” label. We must also be smarter and more aggressive about this nation’s trade policy so that we can boost American exports, create more jobs and get this economy going again.