[CTC] Manufacturers Call Out Japan on Currency Manipulation

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Begin forwarded message:

Date: April 27, 2015 at 10:36:59 AM EDT
From: Council at usbusiness.org
Subject: Manufacturers Call Out Japan on Currency Manipulation



 
                                                                                                                                             Contact Kevin L. Kearns: 202 957 9994 (cell); 202 266 3980 (office)          

Domestic U.S. Manufacturers Target Japanese Currency Manipulation


Full-page ad in Washington Post urges Congress to stand up to Tokyo on currency undervaluation

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 27 - The members of the U.S. Business and Industry Council (USBIC) today called on Congress to take effective action against continued currency manipulation by Japan and other East Asian nations.  The group, which has represented domestic manufacturers since 1933, published a full page ad <http://www.mmsend2.com/link.cfm?r=2129248706&sid=73745518&m=9970166&u=USBIC&j=27376757&s=http://images.magnetmail.net/images/clients/USBIC/attach/USBICBrickWallFinal.jpg> in today's Washington Post urging Congress to knock down the "brick wall" of Japan's currency barrier.

As USBIC president Kevin L. Kearns explained, the ad coincides with Japanese Prime Minister Abe's visit to Washington this week.  The Abe administration has engaged in a series of policies designed to lower the value of the yen against the dollar and other currencies.

Said Kearns, "The Japanese have manipulated their currency one way or another throughout the entire post-WW II period. The latest version is so-called Abenomics. It's high time this currency manipulation stopped. Since President Obama refuses to do anything about it except engage in chit-chat diplomacy while America's manufacturers lose market share and profits, and American workers lose their jobs, Congress must act — either through the mechanism of the Trans-Pacific Partnership or in a free-standing bill."

As Washington considers a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 other nations including Japan, Kearns explained, "Currency manipulation is the number one trade barrier of the 21st Century.  Japan's record of currency manipulation is fairly egregious, with Tokyo intervening in currency markets 376 times since 1991.  Currency manipulation must be addressed in trade negotiations or those negotiations are a failure. It doesn't matter how much the Japanese agree to open their agricultural and automotive markets in TPP negotiations if the value of their currency is so low as to prohibit the purchases of American goods by Japanese consumers."

Kearns continued, "Abenomics, a series of Japanese fiscal, monetary, and tax policies, is ostensibly designed to boost the Japanese inflation rate toward 2 percent and end two decades of alleged economic stagnation. However, Abenomics is a ruse designed primarily to lower the value of the yen and thus increase Japanese exports to the United States and third countries, while making America's and other countries' products less competitive in Japan, in the United States, and in other markets."

Kearns asked, "How many industries, factories, and jobs do we have to lose before our policy makers wake up and address this illegal practice, which drives down the value of the yen to achieve market advantage? Unfortunately, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee in their respective markups of fast track bills last week rejected amendments that would have created strong and effective tools to fight currency manipulation. That means that the issue has to be addressed when these bills come up for floor action in each body."

Click here to view USBIC's new ad. <http://www.mmsend2.com/link.cfm?r=2129248706&sid=73745519&m=9970166&u=USBIC&j=27376757&s=http://images.magnetmail.net/images/clients/USBIC/attach/USBICBrickWallFinal.jpg>
-30-  

 
The USBIC was founded in 1933 to represent the concerns of America's small and medium-sized business community. Member companies are typically family-owned or privately held, mostly in the manufacturing sector. They are often the major employers in their home communities and the mainstays of the local economy. This membership composition has given the USBIC an outlook on issues more rooted in main street America than other national business groups, which are dominated by giant multinational corporations with global agendas and dwindling national loyalties.     

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
UNITED STATES BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY COUNCIL · 512 C ST. NE · WASHINGTON, DC 20002 

 (202) 266-3980 · (202) 266-3981 FAX · COUNCIL at USBUSINESS.ORG · WWW.AMERICANECONOMICALERT.ORG         



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20150427/6041331c/attachment.htm>