China’s Unfair Trade Puts U.S. Auto Parts Jobs at Risk
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More than 1.6 million American jobs in the nation’s auto supply chain are at risk unless China’s illegal trade practices are curtailed, according to three new reports released today. In a conference call with reporters this afternoon, United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard said:
China is cheating unmercifully in this sector and we are saying to China—and asking our government to stand up to China and say—“enough is enough.” It is time to enforce our trade policies.
Two reports from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and one from Stewart and Stewart, a law firm that has won cases challenging China’s unfair trade practices, detail China’s persistent and growing violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and outline plans by China’s government to use these same tactics to boost their auto parts exports even further.
In the past 10 years alone, China’s auto parts exports to the United States have increased by 850 percent, while jobs in the parts industry declined by more than 400,000. Says Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM): Read the rest of this entry »
How, Exactly, Does Trade Bring Prosperity?
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This is a cross-post from Huffington Post by Stan Sorscher, labor representative for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace/IFPTE Local 2001 (SPEEA/IFPTE).
I work for a labor union in the aerospace industry. We are 100 percent in favor of trade. We make products the rest of the world wants to buy.
With increased trade we expect more prosperity. Instead, we see the American economy de-industrializing and job security at historic lows. So, what’s going wrong?
[The chart above] tells the story. Since the [North American Free Trade Agreement] (NAFTA) and [the World Trade Organization] (WTO) took effect around 1995, our trade deficit has widened steadily, except for the 2008 crash, which cut imports more than exports.
Mexican Electrical Workers Union Goes Global With Its Struggle
Leaders of the Mexican electrical workers union, along with the AFL-CIO and more than 100 global unions and human rights groups, are asking the U.S. government to negotiate with Mexico to stop the attacks on the union and workers or face sanctions. The Mexican government forcibly disbanded the union in 2009. The union movement has come under constant attack since Mexican President Felipe Calderón took office in 2006. Click here, here and here for more.
In a petition filed with the U.S. Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (TLA) Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME) is asking that the United States find that the Mexican government has failed to enforce its own labor laws and protect workers’ rights. The Trade and Labor is the office within the Department of Labor that handles labor rights violations.
If the U.S. government finds that the Mexican government has failed to live up to its labor rights obligation under international labor and trade agreements, it would negotiate with the Mexican government. If talks fail to reach an agreement on enforcing labor and workers’ rights, sanctions could be applied.
A similar complaint was filed with the Canadian government in late October. This tri-national effort to win justice for thousands of SME members will be followed by a global call to action in solidarity with Mexican workers later this month.
Report: China Rigs Subsidies, Manipulates Currency
Dave Johnson, a fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, sends us this.
The new U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report on China should be a “wake-up call” for the United States, says Scott Paul, director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM). Click here to read the full report and here for a comprehensive list of the commission’s recommendations beginning on page 355 of the report.
In sum: China is rigging trade using subsidies and currency manipulation, has barriers to bringing in U.S. goods and is forcing American companies to hand over proprietary technology. The result is our huge trade deficit is getting even worse. China also is acting more like it could become a national security threat.
This bipartisan commission was created by Congress in 2000 “to monitor, investigate and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.”
Some key excerpts:
Next Up in Trade Agreements: Trans-Pacific Partnership
Celeste Drake in the AFL-CIO Legislative Department sends us this.
When the recent APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit convened in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 8-14, the 21-member organization released the “Outline of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement” (TPP), a proposed pact that would include nine APEC members: the United States, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Peru, Chile, New Zealand and Australia.
The agreement is President Obama’s first opportunity to negotiate a brand-new trade agreement that’s not based on the model of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), one that would provide jobs and opportunities for working families rather than solely benefiting global corporations.
House Kills China Currency Bill and Chance to Create U.S. Jobs
House Republicans killed another jobs bill tonight, with nearly all of them casting a vote on a procedural motion that buried the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (H.R. 639). The bill, which would have held China accountable for its job-killing currency manipulation, was passed last night by the Senate. The motion to bring the bill to the floor was defeated 192-236, with only four Republicans joining 188 Democrats in supporting the move to bring the legislation to a vote.
Had anti-worker Republicans supported the bill, it would have:
- Created at least one million manufacturing jobs in the United States.
- Leveled the playing field for American workers and businesses.
- Enhanced our economic and national security by cutting our trade deficit with China, at no cost to taxpayers.
Senate Passes China Currency Bill: Will Boehner Support Jobs as Well?
By a wide margin, the U.S. Senate this evening passed a bill to hold China accountable for its job-killing practice of currency manipulation. The 63-35 vote on S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act of 2011, is a good step toward creating U.S. jobs.
According to new data, 2.8 million American jobs were lost or displaced over the past decade due to the growing U.S. trade deficit with China—fueled by Chinese currency manipulation.
But the measure must now be passed by the House, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called on House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) to “allow this vote to take place without delay.”
Congress must stand up for American manufacturing and put an end to the trade war being waged against the working families and communities. Our country needs jobs, and we can no longer afford to be passive.
Alliance for American Manufacturing Executive Director Scott Paul also challenged Boehner to pass the bill after tonight’s vote:
Will you side with the Beijing regime and outsourcers, or will you stand with American manufacturing?
Senate Votes Today on China Currency
The U.S. Senate today will vote on a bill (S. 1619) to hold China accountable for its job-killing practice of currency manipulation. According to new data, 2.8 million American jobs were lost or displaced over the past decade due to the growing U.S. trade deficit with China—fueled by Chinese currency manipulation. (Call your senators today and urge them to vote for S. 1619 or click HERE to e-mail your senators.)
A filibuster against the China currency bill was broken Oct. 6 (63-28). But the vote on final passage was delayed last week when Republicans tried to attach a series of weakening amendments.
China Currency Bill Moves Toward Senate Passage
A bill to hold China accountable for its job-killing practice of currency manipulation passed its final procedural hurdle in the Senate this morning 62-38 and is expected to pass in a final vote later today.
The Republican-controlled House is holding up its version of the legislation, even though it passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2010, with 99 Republicans supporting it.
For more on the bill, click here.
Also, check out this column by Jerry Jasinowski, former president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), who writes that small manufacturers urged NAM to take a strong stand against China’s currency manipulation but big multi-nationals who said:
China’s currency policy was just fine with them. I am sure it was. They were making boatloads of products in China and shipping them back to the U.S. for sale to American consumers. They were doing very well indeed.
Report: Colombia ‘Action Plan’ Fails to End Violence, Improve Workers’ Rights
Colombia’s Labor Action Plan that was billed as a major step to ending violence against trade unionists and protecting the right of workers to come together in unions “has failed to achieve improvements on the ground for Colombia’s working families,” a new AFL-CIO report finds.
As a result, workers who wish to better their lives by forming a union and bargaining collectively continue to be the victims of threats and violent acts, including murder. Moreover, Colombian law continues to provide broad avenues to deny workers the ability to exercise their most basic rights.
With Congress expected to vote on a free trade agreement with Colombia this month, the AFL-CIO has distributed the report—”The Ineffectiveness of Colombia’s Action Plan”—to key lawmakers. Click here to download the report.
The action plan was agreed to between Colombia and the United States in April in hopes of swaying opponents of the trade deal. The Colombian government said it would issue new laws, regulations and other measures aimed at ensuring workers’ rights, stopping the violence against trade unionists and bringing those behind the deadly violence to justice. But there was nothing in the action plan that required Colombia to show improvements in workers’ rights and a reduction or end to the violence before a trade agreement could be approved.
