Labor & Employment Law

Chamber Out of Touch on China Currency Manipulation

By James Parks

It?s not every day a majority of Republicans in Congress thumb their noses at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But yesterday, 99 Republican House members, many with an eye on Nov. 2,  voted for H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act.

The day before the vote, 36 business groups, led by the Chamber, sent a letter to Capitol Hill denouncing the bill. In the letter, the Chamber showed?again?that its focus is on the bottom line for big multinationals, not working families or small businesses.

On the other hand, supporters of the bill were able to refute the Chamber’s claims by citing a petition circulated by the Fair Currency Coalition in favor of the legislation and signed by hundreds of business groups, unions and farm organizations. These groups represent the workers and businesses that have been hurt by the Chinese government’s schemes. 

Just how out of touch is the Chamber? A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released yesterday shows a majority (53 percent) of Americans for the first time thinks free-trade agreements hurt the country. That opinion is shared by a wide spectrum of political beliefs, with 65 percent of union households and 61 percent of Tea Party supporters saying free trade hurts us as a nation. For more on the poll, click here.

So while the Chamber whines about the possibility that the Chinese government will retaliate against the currency vote by keeping U.S. products out of China, it ignores the fact that our nation’s U.S. trade deficit with China has cost 2.4 million U.S. jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

As Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said in the debate on H.R. 2378:

The Chinese government subsidizes every product that lands on our shores?it is putting American workers and manufacturers out of business.

This is about taking our country back. This bill is an opportunity to reinvest in our country and put people back to work.

Chamber, are you listening?

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on September 30, 2010 (boomark / email).