For two years now, we've been told that an agenda of bailouts, government take-overs, massive trillion dollar stimulus and more government spending would stabilize our economy and create jobs. Just last month, the President announced he wanted to borrow another $50 billion for so-called job creation - a proposal that fell flat and wasn't even called for a vote by a Congress with sizable Democratic majorities. Taxpayers and the middle class, rightfully so, are angry, fed up, and have little to show for two years of spending except massive new debt.

Even before the recession, our factories were closing and the accompanying jobs headed overseas. As a result, it was announced recently that China is set to surpass the US as the world's top manufacturer. Simply put, that is a terrible blow to the US economy, and a wake-up call that the same old economic policies which ignore the inequities in our trade relationship with China are insufficient in saving our middle class and our manufacturing base. Frankly, no amount of tax relief or government spending can bring those jobs back.

Unless America gets back to "making things" again by rebuilding our manufacturing sector, we will reduce our global economic competitiveness, export more jobs and become even more dependent on other countries for the goods we rely on in our daily lives. The "Forgotten Job Creator," the American manufacturer, is slowly but surely priced out of the market by cheaper foreign goods and run out of business. This has serious consequences for our long term fiscal health, our national security, our middle class and the desire we all have to leave behind a brighter future for our kids and grandkids.

Recent Victory for American Manufacturing

The good news is we have a recent victory in Washington, that has been a long time coming, to rebuild our manufacturing base, not just for the short term, but over the long term---and that means more jobs.

Since the recession hit, I've asked our local manufacturers what Congress could do to help them. Their response was overwhelmingly clear. You'd expect that at the top of the list would be tax cuts, which are still critically needed, or stimulus grants. But that wasn't what I heard. I didn't hear about SBA loans or expanding Department of Commerce small business programs. While some of these things may help in the short term, they aren't inspiring a lot of confidence to help them compete over the long term. What I heard repeatedly from local manufacturers is that they need Congress to stop China from cheating, and finally have our government hold our biggest trading partner accountable. That, they said, would level the playing field, create jobs and grow our economy.

As a result, I sponsored the bi-partisan Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act with Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) which would finally allow American businesses, particularly manufacturers, to seek relief against countries that maintain an artificially low currency, like China.

I am happy to report that in a major victory, the Murphy/Ryan measure passed the House of Representatives on September 30th by an overwhelming margin, sending a strong signal to China that even if the Administration isn't taking action, in Congress we are serious about this issue and will fight for American jobs.

For years the Chinese government has undervalued their currency by as much as 40%, and thus subsidizing their exports with a 40% discount on prices on their goods. This gives China tremendous advantages and allows them to dump cheap goods into our domestic markets. American manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world, but even against a 40% discount, it's an uphill climb.

In many instances, one of our local business leaders told me, the Chinese can sell the exact same products made here for less than the cost of the material goods to make it. Being able to sell a product cheaper than the material goods, especially after factoring in labor, regulatory and shipping costs, is impossible to do without a subsidy.

There is still work to be done. The bill must pass the Senate and earn the signature of the President.

Throughout the campaign, and even right here in southwest Pennsylvania on April 14, 2008, President Obama pledged to tighten rules on trade with China. The Tribune-Review wrote the next day that, "Obama promised to start shutting off U.S. markets to Chinese goods if the country continued keeping the value of its currency artificially low."

Now, he's singing a different tune. The President has yet to take a position on our bill, and to date has allowed the Treasury Secretary to only gently seek a diplomatic response, which has failed time and again. History has taught us that diplomatic talk won't get China to act. We have to be forceful, stand up for American manufacturing, and be willing to tell our largest trading partner that what they are doing is illegal.

The truth is, President Obama is in a tough position - as we spend a record amount of government money on policies he has supported like bailouts and failed stimulus that haven't created jobs, it is China who continues to finance our debt. It is hard to give orders to those who are buying our Treasury bonds. Frankly, we will only find ourselves in a downward economic spiral unless we are willing to put our collective foot down and stand up for American jobs.

With the President's support, we can pressure the Senate to vote and finally enact the one policy our business leaders say will go a long way in growing our economy: hold China accountable.

To bring greater attention to this issue leading up to the September 30th vote, I joined a number of our local manufacturers to rally support in favor of our bill. The event was covered by the Observer-Reporterand WDUQ.

Joel Ross, the President of Universal Electric Corp where our rally was held with approximately 100 employees, spoke about the difficulties for his company to compete against China's subsidized goods. Joel has been an outstanding leader on this issue, working along with the Coalition for a Prosperous America, to save American manufacturing jobs. He put it best in discussing how this issue hits home: "I want to have jobs for you guys, for your children and grandchildren and my grandchildren. I want to see the standard of living in America maintained."

Our bill would recognize currency manipulation as an unfair trade practice and empower companies like Joel's to take instances of illegally subsidized manufactured goods directly to the International Trade Commission. There, the case could be made for tariffs on these type of goods as a result of an artificially low currency.

National Association of Manufacturers Weighs in, Recognizing Our Efforts

During my tenure in Congress, I've consistently supported a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda to advance the effort to maintain U.S. leadership in the global economy. The work we've been doing to grow local jobs, coupled with my voting record during the 111th Congress, has again earned me the NAM Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence! The NAM award is presented to Members of Congress who consistently support legislation to spur economic growth and job creation. NAM scores legislators based on a number of key votes including the healthcare "reform” and Cap and Trade bills, both of which I opposed. This award comes on the heels of recent endorsements from the US Chamber of Commerce and my earning the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). In this difficult economy, there is seemingly no greater recognition than that coming from those who America is counting on to create jobs and get our economy moving. I'm looking to forward to continuing to be a close partner in the next Congress!

Sincerely,

Tim Murphy

Posted by Tim Murphy
October 13, 2010 12:59 pm
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