Letter to President George W. Bush

August 26, 2003

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I write again to ask you to take forceful action to save American manufacturing and textile jobs from unfair competition from China. Too many of our communities are struggling and Washington is doing too little too protect America's workers. In North Carolina and South Carolina alone, we have lost more than 150,000 textile jobs. That is why I strongly support the petition filed by the American Textile Manufacturers Institute and other groups with the Department of Commerce. The petition urges the immediate implementation of safeguards to prevent imports from China from disrupting our textile and apparel markets. Having finally begun the process of implementing some antisurge protections, the Department of Commerce must take quick, strong action on all pending petitions for protection against China's disruption of our textile markets.

There is a second issue of equal concern: China's manipulation of its currency. By pegging its currency to the dollar at an artificially low rate, China gives its products an artificial discount of as much as 30 percent or more. I urge you to direct Treasury Secretary John Snow to demand that China end this unfair trade advantage in his upcoming trip to Beijing. The results of his trip should be judged on whether or not he makes real, concrete progress on currency manipulation.

Last year, our nation ran a $100 billion trade deficit with China, the largest in history between any two nations. We bought five times more from China than we sold there. This year's trade deficit could be even larger. With such a deficit, it is no coincidence we have lost 2.4 million manufacturing jobs since the beginning of 2001.

In particular, the tidal wave of textile and apparel imports is swamping American communities and destroying American jobs. More textile and apparel products are imported from China than any other country. Sales to American customers soared by more than 117 percent in 2002. So far this year, sales are up another 114 percent.

As dramatic as these statistics are, they do not fully convey the pain of jobs "dislocated" by trade. Manufacturing jobs are the anchor of many communities. Their loss has a ripple effect that destroys other jobs. The men and women who work in our mills want nothing more than the chance to work hard and build a better future for their children. They are now struggling to feed their families, keep their homes, and pay for health care.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

John Edwards