NAM’s Timmons: Here’s the Solution to Make China ‘Play By The Rules’
By: NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons
May 31, 2018
“President Donald Trump has done more for manufacturing workers than any president in recent history, and now he has the chance to cement his legacy—by seeking, negotiating and securing a history-making trade agreement with China. With U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross headed to China in the coming days, the administration has the chance to lay the foundation to advance this goal …
“China and its favored Chinese industries are also the cause of some of manufacturers’ biggest challenges. They steal manufacturers’ valuable ideas and intellectual property. They undercut us in the global marketplace and don’t play by the same rules. They profit from these actions at our expense …
“A U.S.–China trade agreement must achieve three key goals to be successful: eliminate tariffs and discriminatory practices that prevent American companies from selling more manufactured goods to China; end Chinese policies that distort the free market and give their companies an unfair advantage; and create clear and binding enforcement tools to ensure the United States can hold China fully accountable.
“This agreement must also go further than the existing World Trade Organization agreements, which, as the president has noted, allow Chinese tariffs to be more than three times higher than U.S. tariffs. It must require stricter rules against unfair subsidies. It must include best-in-class provisions to end China’s favoritism toward domestic industries and to protect intellectual property. Companies should not be forced to hand over data and technology just to do business in China …
“President Trump can do what no American president has been able to do and what a piecemeal tariff approach cannot achieve: make China play by the rules and stop cheating once and for all, while empowering manufacturers in the United States to compete in China like never before.”
Click here to read Timmons’ letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to pursue a bilateral trade agreement with China. Click here to watch Timmons’ appearance this morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
-NAM-
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.