The Alliance for American Manufacturing wants China to play by international trade rules so the United States can compete to keep jobs here.
The alliance, which describes itself as a nonprofit partnership between labor and management forged to strengthen U.S. manufacturing, held a town-hall meeting in Denver on Thursday to discuss the impact the growing trade deficit with China is having on American jobs.
The U.S. has lost more than 3.5 million manufacturing jobs and more than 40,000 factories have closed in the past 10 years, according to the alliance.
The Chinese government manipulates currency, making it impossible for the U.S. to compete, Scott Paul, the alliance’s executive director, said during an interview before Thursday’s event.
“The yuan is deliberately undervalued by its government,” Paul said. “It makes Chinese imports cheaper and our exports more expensive. Under global trade law, it’s illegal.”
Chinese manufacturers also are heavily subsidized, Paul said.
“Chinese steel producers received $27 billion in energy subsidies last year,” he said.
But many Americans welcome the cheaper goods manufactured in China, said Jim Reis, president and chief executive of World Trade Center Denver.
“(The alliance) are not the people that are going into Costco and Wal-Mart and are very happy that the prices are cheap on flat-screen TVs,” said Reis, who did not participate in the town-hall meeting. “They’d rather spend $130 on a hair dryer.”
The alliance estimates that Colorado has lost 45,600 manufacturing jobs since 2000, costing the state about $14 billion. The alliance also is concerned that as production moves to China, research and development will soon follow.
“These are not widget jobs that are part of our economic past,” Paul said. “These are part of our economic future.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
