From his seat on the U.S. House Rules Committee, U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., led a coalition of liberals and conservatives to offer an amendment to the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to cut down on currency manipulation.
Clawson teamed up with U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., to introduce the amendment ensuring American trade negotiators' future trade deals crack down on currency manipulation with all countries following International Monetary Fund standards, and hoping other countries don’t use their exchange rates to subsidize exports.
“It’s important that we incorporate language into the TPA legislation to ensure that future trade agreements require the elimination of subsidies and unfair practices that artificially favor one trade partner at the expense of another,” Clawson said on Wednesday as he brought out the proposal. “Time and again, throughout my life and my career in the automotive industry, I have seen the faces of those displaced by this practice. Currency manipulation has dried up many small town and urban neighborhood economies in this country, and put our skilled plant workers in the unemployment line or has forced them into lower-paying jobs. We cannot address free trade unless we address fairness.”
“Our bipartisan amendment is simple – it puts teeth into Trade Promotion Authority and addresses currency manipulation by holding countries who deliberately inflate the value of their currency accountable,” Kildee insisted. “My home state of Michigan has seen firsthand the loss of tens of thousands of good-paying jobs due to the past failure to address currency manipulation. If Congress fails to adopt this amendment and address the biggest barrier to fair trade – currency manipulation – American workers will be forced to compete on an uneven playing field.”
Clawson and Kildee have rounded up more than 20 members of Congress to support the bill, including Republicans like U.S. Reps. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Trent Franks of Arizona, Walter Jones of North Carolina and Bill Posey of Florida, and Democrats ranging from U.S. Reps Marcy Kaptur of Ohio to Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts.
The proposal has won the support of unions including United Auto Workers (UAW), Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the AFL-CIO but businesses like Ford Motor Co. are also behind it.
“Currency manipulation is the most significant 21st century trade barrier that American manufacturers face,” Curt Eagleby, Ford’s VP for U.S. government relations, said. “We have consistently supported the inclusion of strong, enforceable currency rules in all future trade deals.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
