Sen. Brown touting legislation to fight Chinese currency manipulation

MANSFIELD — Currency manipulation by countries including China, Singapore and Malaysia has left some small manufacturers across Ohio struggling to maintain healthy volume of exports, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday.

As evidence, Brown cited a U.S. Department of Labor list of companies certified to receive Trade Adjustment Assistance for the business or its workers during the past two decades — including at least 20 north central Ohio businesses.

After figures in May showed a 34 percent jump in the U.S.-China trade deficit, Brown announced he will reintroduce the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013.

The bill would use U.S. trade law to counter economic harm to U.S. manufacturers caused by currency manipulation, and provide consequences for countries that fail to adopt appropriate policies to eliminate currency misalignment. Its introduction comes in advance of upcoming talks between President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Introduced in 2011, the bill passed in the U.S. Senate, but never made it to a vote in the House.

Brown said he is confident that, with the presidential election over, U.S. business owners with foreign sales hurt by unfair currency rates set by some countries will convince House members of the need.

When China manipulates its currency to be set 25 percent lower than the rate it would be floating in a free market, Chinese businesses selling goods into the United States are able to set their prices at 25 percent less, Brown said.

“American manufacturers can compete on everything else,” he said. “But when America sells into China, it effectively has a 25 percent tariff” set on those goods.

“American workers and manufacturers are the most competitive in the world. But when countries like China cheat by manipulating currency, that’s not competing — it’s cheating. Our bipartisan bill would create jobs by leveling the playing field for American manufacturers — at no cost to taxpayers,” Brown said.

A December 2012 report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics concluded currency manipulation by foreign governments cost the U.S. between 1 million and 5 million jobs, increasing the U.S. trade deficit by $200 billion to $500 billion per year.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that addressing currency manipulation could support the creation of 2.25 million American jobs. EPI also estimates that ending currency manipulation would increase Ohio’s jobs total by 95,000 to 200,000; increase Ohio’s gross domestic product between $8.26 billion and $17.41 billion; and increase Ohioans’ salaries between $4.72 billion and $9.94 billion.

Brown released a county-by-county report on the number of Trade Adjustment Assistance certifications obtained through the U.S. Department of Labor. The federal program provides aid to workers who lost jobs or work hours because of increased imports from foreign competitors.

Companies may be certified for assistance if they can show that decreased sales at U.S. business are tied to customers shifting their purchases away to imported goods. Workers, to receive benefits, must show they are directly affected by imports or a shift in the company’s production to other countries.

In a telephone news conference with Brown, Bill Adler, president of Stripmatic Products Inc. in Cleveland and board chairman for the Precision Metalforming Association, said currency manipulation and unfair trade practices have hurt his business and others across Ohio.

“We don’t ask for special protection or help from the government, but we do ask for a level playing field,” Adler said. “U.S. manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world when the competition is fair. This bipartisan legislation is targeted at those countries that manipulate their currency to give themselves an unfair and illegal advantage against U.S. manufacturers that result in job losses here in the U.S.”

Endorsements for the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013 have come from the AFL-CIO, Alliance for American Manufacturing, American Iron and Steel Institute, Coalition for Prosperous America, Fair Currency Coalition, National Council of Textile Organizations, National Tooling and Machining Association, Precision Metalforming Association, and United Steelworkers.