Manzullo Champions Bill to Help Level Global Playing Field for U.S. Manufacturers, Create American Jobs

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) today joined several colleagues and American manufacturing groups in urging House Democrat leaders to call up bipartisan legislation that would help level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers consistently harmed by the unfair trade practices of foreign governments.

H.R. 2942, which Manzullo co-sponsored last year with Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), and others, would penalize foreign governments that give their companies a competitive advantage over U.S. manufacturers by manipulating their currencies.

Specifically, the bill would define foreign currency manipulation as an illegal export subsidy actionable under U.S. trade law. It would allow the U.S. government to slap countervailing duties on any country manipulating its currency. In addition, the legislation adopts a provision from a prior Manzullo bill that made it easier to charge foreign countries with currency manipulation.

"For too long, certain foreign governments have illegally manipulated their currencies to give their companies an unfair competitive advantage over U.S. manufacturers," said Manzullo, who spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference today renewing his support for the bill. "This legislation would penalize those countries and help level the playing field for our manufacturers. I have no doubt that American workers can compete with anyone in the world, but the competition must be fair."

Most countries allow their currencies to "float" so they are valued by market conditions. China and a few other countries take actions to weaken the value of their currencies. A lower currency makes it less expensive for a company to export its goods to another country. Economists estimate China's currency misalignment gives Chinese products a 15-40 percent competitive advantage over products made in the United States.

Manzullo has been extremely active in cracking down on China's currency manipulation practices. Manzullo previously authored a House Resolution to urge the Administration to use all available means to force China and others to stop manipulating their currencies to the detriment of U.S. manufacturers. Manzullo and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), former chairs of the House and Senate Small Business Committees, also instructed the General Accounting Office to conduct an investigation to quantify the damage currency manipulation causes to U.S. manufacturers.

As Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, Manzullo held several committee hearings on the issue of currency manipulation and has testified on numerous occasions for the need to halt foreign currency manipulation to level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers.

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