On November 28th 2012, AISI President and CEO, Thomas J. Gibson, issued the following statement in reaction to the Administration’s decision not to name China a currency manipulator in the Treasury Department’s semiannual report:
“We are extremely disappointed that once again the Administration decided not to name China a currency manipulator in the Treasury Department’s semiannual report. This is another missed opportunity to address one of China’s many trade distorting practices.
China’s unfair trade practices were an election issue, and one that the public feels we should do something about. In fact, a national survey* of voters indicated that 83 percent support getting tougher on China to reduce its producers’ unfair advantage in global trade that they gain by violating trade rules. Declaring China a currency manipulator would be an important step toward correcting America’s long-standing trade imbalance with China.
We believe that Congress should pass, and that the Obama Administration should support, a trade law remedy fix to this problem of currency manipulation, which has contributed to the current $232 billion U.S. trade deficit with China. By holding the value of its currency artificially low, China is in effect subsidizing the export of its goods to the United States.”
Last year, the Senate passed the bipartisan Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011 (S. 1619) in part because of their frustration with the Administration’s inaction. We urge the U.S. House of Representatives to follow suit.” For more information, contact Rachel Gilbert.
* FirstView2012 is a nationwide survey of one thousand voters conducted on Election Day by Heart+Mind Strategies.