Earlier this week, as the Obama administration called on Congress to swiftly pass legislation to protect American manufacturers from foreign currency manipulation, U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) voiced her support of the proposal.
“In June, when Congress was debating Trade Promotion Authority legislation, better known as ‘fast track’ authority to negotiate new trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama said that he would veto the authorizing bill if it included currency manipulation provisions,” Miller explained. “Now, on the heels of China devaluing its Yuan, he is calling on Congress to quickly pass legislation to protect U.S. manufacturers against currency manipulation.”
Miller said she has long advocated for strong protections against currency manipulation to help her constituents in Southeast Michigan, a region that has suffered decades of economic devastation due to what she said is “unfair currency manipulation practices from overseas competitors like Japan, China, and South Korea.”
Miller recently worked with House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Rep. Dave Trott (R-MI) to negotiate strong currency manipulation provisions in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act – including a three-part test to define currency manipulation and a requirement for nations that manipulate their currency to identify themselves.
“If this administration is serious about protecting U.S. manufacturing, then it should insist that any trade deal, starting with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (which is currently being negotiated), have strong provisions that stop countries from engaging in this unfair practice that hurts American manufacturers,” Miller said.