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CHINA CURRENCY COALITION WASHINGTON, D.C.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Angela Brown 202.342.8644
angela.brown@sightlinemarketing.com
China Currency Coalition Urges Congressional Action This Year
To Address Problem of Currency Manipulation
(Washington, D.C.) (October 18, 2007) – Amid reports that both houses of Congress are focused on crafting an effective response to the practice of competitive currency depreciation by some countries such as China, the China Currency Coalition today sent letters to the House and Senate leadership urging that meaningful legislation be passed in the current session to address this very serious problem. The letters are signed by the coalition’s co-chairmen, Doug Bartlett, who is the Chairman of Bartlett Manufacturing Company, a producer of printed circuit boards in Cary, Illinois, and also a member of the U.S. Business & Industry Council, and Richard Trumka, who is the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
“We need action this year,” said Mr. Bartlett, “because the cumulative toll that has been taken since 1994 due to China’s consistent and protracted policy of undervaluing the renminbi is rapidly worsening. We are seeing more and more U.S. companies and their workers suffer due to China’s manipulation of its currency. Family-owned businesses and other small and mediumsized companies that have been in existence for decades, some dating back to the 19th century, and that survived the Great Depression and have been run successfully for generations, are simply unable to compete with imports from China and other countries that undervalue their currencies. In my industry, for example, which produces printed circuit boards for a wide range of commercial and military applications, in the past five years alone we have lost literally hundreds of firms that have been forced to close or have moved to China. Currency manipulation is skewing patterns of foreign direct investment in China toward the export sector and, very critically, also is undercutting research and development here in the United States.”
Richard Trumka agrees that the time to act is now: “The difference between currency manipulation and a fair currency price is the difference between having a job and watching your factory shut its gates. It is the difference between having health insurance for your kids – or not. And, for our country, it may be the difference between having a healthy middle class – or sitting back and watching as economic divisions tear us apart. Currency manipulation by any definition is not fair trade. There is no reason that nations engaging in these practices should have free and 2 easy access to the American market. It is our big stick. We should speak softly and be prepared to use it. We urge Congress to act now.”
Added David A. Hartquist, the coalition’s counsel, “Today’s letters are meant respectfully to punctuate the importance the coalition places on passage of effective legislation this year. There is no time to lose. The strength of American manufacturing, and of all it represents and supports, is being dangerously sapped by what amounts to the largest unfair subsidy that one can imagine. The legislation that the coalition advocates is designed to counter currency manipulation from both the monetary and trade perspectives in a manner consistent with the international legal obligations of the United States at the International Monetary Fund and at the World Trade Organization. The global trading system depends for successful functioning upon orderly and stable exchange arrangements that reflect market forces. We are hopeful that the leadership in the House and the Senate will step up to this challenge.”
The China Currency Coalition is an alliance of industry, agriculture, and worker organizations whose mission is to support U.S. manufacturing by seeking an end to Chinese currency manipulation. For further information, visit www.chinacurrencycoalition.org.