How to ensure a better playing field for U.S. automobile and auto parts manufacturers.
Earlier today, U.S. Representative Sander M. Levin (D-MI) gave a speech at The Peterson Institute to address Japan's entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations. Rep. Levin's speech included an auto proposal for the TPP that would address auto tariff reductions, currency manipulation, and other non-tariff barriers. Specifically, on the subject of currency manipulation, Rep. Levin called for Japan to start selling its foreign currency reserves as a "gesture of goodwill."
Said Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM):
"Congressman Levin has offered an elegant and enforceable solution to ensuring a better playing field for U.S. automobile and auto parts manufacturers competing with Japan. If the Obama Administration is serious about growing manufacturing jobs and signing a high-standard Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, it will adopt these ideas as its bottom-line negotiating position moving forward.
"As Congressman Levin also points out in his speech, ensuring the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing goes beyond getting trade policy right. The root cause of Detroit’s bankruptcy was deindustrialization, aided and abetted by U.S. economic policy. If the U.S. adopts a smart manufacturing policy, we can achieve better outcomes in the future. It’s one essential step in rebuilding America’s middle class."
Read Paul's latest op-ed in The Huffington Post, "No More Detroits."