Interviews
Combating China more vital than Peru FTA - AMTAC
12 Nov '07
4 min read
The American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) expressed disappointment over the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives has spent 2007 focusing on a flawed Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which passed by a vote of 285 to 132, instead of passing strong legislation to combat trade cheats like China.
Noting that the United States has lost more than 3.1 million manufacturing jobs since 2001 and is projected to run a trade deficit with China in excess of $265 billion in 2007, AMTAC Executive Director Auggie Tantillo said, “The Peru FTA simply is a continuation of the flawed trade policy model of trade deficits, offshoring and job losses.
The House spending the entire year focusing on an unpopular Peru FTA instead of passing a strong anti-currency manipulation bill is an enormous disappointment to U.S. manufacturers desperate for relief from China's predatory trade practices."
"The illegal currency subsidies given by China to its manufacturing exporters dwarf the $9 billion in trade covered by the proposed Peru FTA. Rather than focusing on real trade problems, the House instead passed an FTA with a country that only could afford to buy 0.28 percent of U.S. exports in 2006,” Tantillo continued.
For example, China's currency has been estimated by many experts to be undervalued by anywhere from 15 to 40, to as much as even 75 percent (if purchasing power parity (PPP numbers are used). China exported $280,763,966,000 in manufactured goods to the United States in 2006. If China's currency were found to be undervalued by 36 percent, the subsidy to China's manufacturing exporters would total more than $101 billion.
“Clearly, a key message from the last election – stop offshoring good middle-class U.S. manufacturing jobs – still has not registered with the new leadership in this Congress. Like the congressional leadership from the party fired by the voters last November, they obviously believe that passing more job-killing FTAs, like Peru, is more important than stopping China from cheating,” Tantillo charged.
Noting that the United States has lost more than 3.1 million manufacturing jobs since 2001 and is projected to run a trade deficit with China in excess of $265 billion in 2007, AMTAC Executive Director Auggie Tantillo said, “The Peru FTA simply is a continuation of the flawed trade policy model of trade deficits, offshoring and job losses.
The House spending the entire year focusing on an unpopular Peru FTA instead of passing a strong anti-currency manipulation bill is an enormous disappointment to U.S. manufacturers desperate for relief from China's predatory trade practices."
"The illegal currency subsidies given by China to its manufacturing exporters dwarf the $9 billion in trade covered by the proposed Peru FTA. Rather than focusing on real trade problems, the House instead passed an FTA with a country that only could afford to buy 0.28 percent of U.S. exports in 2006,” Tantillo continued.
For example, China's currency has been estimated by many experts to be undervalued by anywhere from 15 to 40, to as much as even 75 percent (if purchasing power parity (PPP numbers are used). China exported $280,763,966,000 in manufactured goods to the United States in 2006. If China's currency were found to be undervalued by 36 percent, the subsidy to China's manufacturing exporters would total more than $101 billion.
“Clearly, a key message from the last election – stop offshoring good middle-class U.S. manufacturing jobs – still has not registered with the new leadership in this Congress. Like the congressional leadership from the party fired by the voters last November, they obviously believe that passing more job-killing FTAs, like Peru, is more important than stopping China from cheating,” Tantillo charged.
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