On the recordOctober 6, 2011
I appreciate the Senator's consistent push for fair trade policies. We have worked on Alabama's and Ohio's issues, from sleeping bags to steel. I appreciate that. The Senator said how important manufacturing is and that we cannot just turn to a service economy or we begin to lose the middle class. I appreciate the Senator's advocacy there. Will the Senator explain, before the debate is wrapped up, what this currency depreciation, if you will, by the Chinese does to our economy. Senator Merkley explained yesterday that when we export to China, their currency advantage--artificial advantage--gets the Chinese a 25-percent tariff on our sales to China, making it harder for a Montgomery or a Dayton company to sell into China. Coming the other way, it is a 25- percent subsidy to the Chinese company--or their government's company-- selling in Mobile or Cincinnati. Could the Senator wrap up the debate and go through that again--to the point of what currency does to manufacturing and the middle class.
