Trade
The United States must act when foreign countries illegally sell or subsidize their products or engage in other unfair trade practices. We must the use the World Trade Organization (WTO) and our bilateral trade agreements to hold our trading partners accountable for practices that hurt American industry and workers.
Earlier this year, I urged President Obama to use all existing and appropriate legal authority to address China’s unfair trade practices in the auto parts sector. China has provided its producers with unfair advantages, limited American exports to their market, and subsidized their exports to our market.
To help U.S. manufacturers counter China’s unfair subsidies, I supported legislation to ensure that the United States can continue to apply countervailing duty law to non-market economies like China.
As a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition’s Trade Task Force, I believe that trade policy done fairly can create jobs in the U.S. by opening new markets to America and increasing opportunities for American workers. To accomplish this goal, we have to implement trade agreements that give the United States the ability to hold our trading partners accountable for their labor and environmental laws by insisting their laws meet international standards.
We have a responsibility to assist U.S. workers who have lost their jobs due to the effect of foreign trade on their industry. That is why I helped strengthen the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program to allow workers in trade impacted industries to access TAA before they become laid off from their jobs so that even while working, they can learn new skills. My proposal was first included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and then again in 2011 when Congress approved three free trade agreements
I oppose China’s massive government intervention in their currency markets, which makes Chinese imports cheaper, U.S. exports more expensive, and costs the United States between 500,000 and 1.5 million jobs. I have co-sponsored the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011 to strengthen the Obama Administration’s hand in its negotiations with China. It helps American businesses compete on a more level playing field by treating fundamentally undervalued currencies as a prohibited subsidy, allowing the U.S. to take action to counter this unfair trade practice. In addition, I signed H.Res. 310 to provide for the immediate consideration of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act by the House of Representatives.