It’s funny what folks can do when they put their minds to it.  And it’s even more amazing what the U.S. Congress can do when voters speak their mind.

A Reuters article today notes that the “Bush administration and Congress moved closer on Thursday to battles over free trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea and bills to curb the huge trade deficit with China.” 

With polls showing the economy as a top voter concern, it’s no wonder that Congress is finally paying attention.  Unfortunately, U.S. Trade Representative Sue Schwab is not enthusiastic about Congressional action to address China’s illegal currency manipulation.  According to Schwab, “This is not a good time for Congress to be seeking quick fixes for complex international economic challenges.”

It seems that Schwab doesn’t feel Congress is sufficiently skilled to meddle in the realm of international trade.  No matter that Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution specifically empowers the Legislative Branch to “regulate Commerce with foreign nations.”  But Schwab is preoccupied with ensuring smooth U.S.-China relations, and worries that “legislation aimed at China could backfire on the United States.”
 
What the honorable Office of the USTR overlooks is that Congressional response to China’s 14-odd years of currency rigging—a practice deemed illegal by the WTO—is not a sudden effort or “quick fix.”  There’s a broad bipartisan consensus that action needs to be taken.

The overarching picture is not complex:  China is cheating.  Congress is owning up to its “We the people” mandate and taking action to ensure that U.S. businesses and workers have the same opportunity to compete as our trading partners. 

Regrettably, USTR favors the status quo, with 1.8 million jobs lost to China and a burgeoning bilateral trade deficit.  But as Harry Truman once noted, “The American people can always spot a counterfeit.  Sometimes it just takes time.”

In this case, Congress has seen through the Executive Branch’s China apologies and is finally turning on the griddle.  As AAM’s Horace Cooper is wont to say, “Some times you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.”  It’s Congress’ turn to get tough.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 8:20 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable, Currency Manipulation, Enforcing Trade Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.