Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Frank Lavin asked a great question when he was in China earlier this week: “Why not open up?” But he shouldn’t have stopped there. Not only do American manufacturers face enormous trade barriers when trying to export to China, they must also compete with illegally dumped and subsidized Chinese goods flooding the U.S. market. Currency manipulation gives Chinese manufacturers up to a 40 percent advantage. Ignoring labor laws, a disregard for the environmental controls, and state subsidies for industry only add to that unfair edge. The good news for American manufacturers is that these illegal Chinese trade practices can be aggressively challenged under U.S. and international trade laws to ensure a truly free marketplace, and Congress is looking at ways to hold our trade partners who violate trade laws even more accountable. Opening up China’s market should be a priority—but we also need to ensure that China isn’t illegally subsidizing its industries and dumping its products into our market at the expense of American manufacturers and American workers.