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China is ‘unfairly keeping its currency low,’ U.S. Rep. Turner says
By Steve Bennish Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, Thursday spoke about the bill pending in the House aimed at allowing penalties to be levied against nations found to be manipulating their currencies.
“When you look at currency manipulation, China is unfairly keeping its currency low. Their products come here cheaper than our products,” Turner said.
As for background, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, on Wednesday visited HARCO manufacturing in Moraine accompanied by local elected officials, urging that the House pass the bill.
The Senate passed a Brown-authored bill in 2011 by a 63-35 vote. Brown cited a study from the Economic Policy Institute that suggest eliminating Chinese currency manipulation that undervalues their products from 25 to 40 percent could create more than 2 million U.S. jobs and revive the manufacturing industry.
The House version of the bill has a majority 230 co-sponsors, but Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, refuses to allow a vote, saying it could spark a trade war. “Passing legislation that could seriously damage the United States’ important trade relationship with China would threaten Ohio jobs as well as future economic growth,” a spokeswoman told the Dayton Daily News.
Brown rejects that.
“Many of my colleagues say that standing up for Ohio manufacturers would start a trade war with China. But we’re already in a trade war. This is about fighting back with one of the biggest bipartisan jobs bill the Senate has seen this year. We’ve lost millions of jobs to China - including more than 100,000 Ohio jobs - due in no small part to that country’s illegal currency manipulation. It’s time to put American workers first. We cannot stand by and watch any longer as our factories close down and entire communities undergo total devastation. Rhetoric has done little to solve the problem, and Ohio manufacturers and workers have paid the price.”
Here are Rep. Turner’s complete comments Thursday:
“Well, I am a co-sponsor of the Anti-Currency Manipulation Bill on the House side. One thing is for certain. We see that we lose jobs in (the) manufacturing sector when we are in situations where China fails to play by the rules (and) when we have unfair competition, product dumping, currency manipulation. This costs American jobs. We should address it. They should be held accountable. When we have fair competition, American jobs survive and thrive and that should be our goal.”
“When you look at currency manipulation, China is unfairly keeping its currency low. Their products come here cheaper than our products. If they’re forced to allow their currency to float, their products then would be accurately valued and our products would be able to compete,” Turner said. “I think people understand that this is an issue of unfair competition. This is an issue of we’re losing jobs as a result of they’re either dumping product or manipulating their currency or unfair trade practices.”
“There is an ongoing debate as to what action to take.I am a co-sponsor of the bill that would hold China accountable. This is a bill that I think would make certain that China has to take action, float its currency more, so that we can protect our jobs here.”
“Support from manufacturing is incredibly important because these aren’t just the jobs of the past, this is how we create wealth and jobs in our economy. These are the jobs that need to be protected. Certainly, an area where our government needs to step in (is) where other governments are not playing by the rules and are costing American jobs. Certainly, this is something that Congress needs to address.”
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