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The following is from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
By Andrew G. Sharkey, a Pittsburgh native and president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute.
April 13, 2008
The real economic threat
China cheats -- at the cost of American jobs and economic growth
The current state of the U.S. economy has become the talk of the campaign trail. This comes as no surprise to those seeing rising prices at the gas pump, learning firsthand about skyrocketing energy costs, witnessing stagnation in job growth and hearing about the ever-increasing trade deficit. Over the next week, Pennsylvanians will continue to have the opportunity to have their voices and concerns heard as the presidential candidates court their votes for April 22 primary.
As residents of a major manufacturing state, you are well aware of the importance of fair trade and strong trade laws. Unfortunately, the presidential candidates give the impression that the only trade issue facing domestic manufacturing is the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA is now being used as a catch-all for the trade issues this country faces.
Despite a national focus on free-trade agreements, the real threat to our economy and a strong manufacturing sector is China. According to the U.S. government, our trade deficit attributed to NAFTA is $138 billion. Our deficit with China, which has grown exponentially since 2001, is $256 billion. China's inability to fulfill its World Trade Organization obligations and our lack of trade law enforcement are chiefly responsible for this ballooning deficit. In fact, a growing number of prominent economists have labeled China as mercantilist, meaning its policies are intended to advance its own well-being at the expense of others.
Over the last 10 years, the Chinese government has subsidized its steel industry with more than $50 billion. It has continued to undervalue its currency, allowing Chinese exports to be up to 40 percent cheaper than they otherwise would be. This form of currency manipulation, which Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calls "an effective subsidy," is prohibited under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. The Chinese government's refusal to enforce any kind of environmental discipline, which has led the U.S. Olympic Committee to provide our athletes surgical masks for the 2008 Beijing games, is yet another unfair advantage.
America has lost 1.8 million manufacturing jobs since the year 2001 -- 78,200 of them exported directly from Pennsylvanian manufacturers to China. This is not acceptable when a manufacturing job in the Keystone State pays 18 percent more than any other occupation requiring similar skills. The American steel industry welcomes the chance to compete head-to-head with any industry in the world, but not against a government that plays by its own set of rules.
Pennsylvania voters need to ask the presidential candidates how they would address China's continued disregard for trade law and environmental standards. As voters, we should expect well-formed answers to specific questions that deal with critical problems to our economic well-being.
The time for rhetoric about free-trade agreements and China has come and gone. The American steel industry expects the next president of the United States to enforce our trade laws, advocate for a strong manufacturing base and guard against actions taken by the real trade threat -- China. You should too.
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Please keep up the heat on the activities, all the subversive activities of the Chinese in this country. They have an agenda that includes nothing good for the U.S. of that we can all be sure. The colonization of Africa is also for their enrichment. It's a global problem where the Chinese are concerned. I don't know enough, but the fact that I see Chinese in our P.T.O. and F.B.I. offices makes me very suspicious.