Letter to Hon. Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader of the Senate, Hon. Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the Senate, Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, and Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives - Kaptur, Ohio Democrats Urge Support for Domestic Semiconductor Production, Protection of American Manufacturing

Letter

Dear Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy:

We write to urge swift passage of a revised United States Innovation and Competition Act
(USICA) to strengthen American economic competitiveness and reinvest in American
manufacturing jobs. The USICA contains a number of provisions that will benefit Ohio, such as
funding for the CHIPS for America Act and investments in research and manufacturing
programs. Yet it also lacks provisions to enforce U.S. trade laws against countries, like China,
who engage in unfair economic practices. We believe that the time and effort spent on the
USICA should not be wasted and Congress should work together to send this legislation with an
amended trade title to the President's desk without delay.

Coming on the heels of an unprecedented shortage of semiconductors, exacerbated by foreign
governments luring this sector abroad and U.S. overreliance on overseas production, we
applauded the USICA for including $52 billion to fund the CHIPS for America Act. The need for
this funding is self-evident: over the summer, General Motors, Ford, and other automotive
companies announced short-term plant closures in Lima and Toledo, in many cases due to
pandemic-related production issues at overseas manufacturers of automotive-grade chips. In light
of the far-reaching consequences for our nation's economy and national security, there is
bipartisan consensus in favor of funding the CHIPS for America Act to catalyze new
semiconductor investments in the United States--we should move quickly to ensconce that
consensus in law.

In addition to funding for semiconductor investment, the USICA also contains a panoply of
provisions designed to support innovation and strengthen Ohio's manufacturing base broadly.
For example, expansion of the Manufacturing USA Institutes would immediately invest in
manufacturing innovation, such as the "America Makes" Institute in Youngstown. Additionally,
the USICA's increase in funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) at the
Department of Commerce would help expand Ohio's network of MEPs such as the
Manufacturing Extension Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) in Cleveland. Finally, the
bill's assistance for research and development (R&D) and early career research will support the
innovation that spurs economic growth. In agreement with the findings of academic researchers,
we believe that investments in R&D and manufacturing innovation will act as strong multipliers
to private investment.

Despite these successes, the USICA does contain one glaring deficiency. It does not include any
provisions to strengthen our trade remedy laws. Given that our trade remedy laws comprise the
nation's first defense against unfair foreign economic practices and offshoring, especially against
non-market actors like China, it is vital that the USICA include trade remedy provisions.
Otherwise, the bill will undermine its new investments in manufacturing. Fortunately, we have
developed a bipartisan, bicameral proposal to give the U.S. government new tools to respond to
the creative ways in which China targets our industrial base. Consider the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI): right now, the Department of Commerce cannot combat subsidies provided by
third countries as China does with the BRI. For the first time, our legislation gives the
Department of Commerce tools to combat those subsidies. Therefore, we urge you to include the
Eliminating Global Market Distortions To Protect American Jobs Act of 2021--also known as
the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0--to any USICA compromise. As members of the Ohio
congressional delegation, we strongly support the inclusion of this bill in USICA to ensure our
Ohio industries and manufacturing companies are not lost to unfair trade practices.

In the face of COVID-19 challenges and unprecedented investments by global competitors, we
urge you to lead both houses to adopt a final revised version of USICA that can be enacted
promptly. With the inclusion of Leveling the Playing Field 2.0, we believe the investments in
this bill have the potential to transform Ohio's economy.