In advance of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s visit to China tomorrow, members of the House Populist Caucus today issued a statement urging him to release a determination on Chinese currency manipulation. The Populist Caucus includes: Reps. Bruce Braley (D-IA), Peter Welch (D-VT, DeFazio (D-OR), Michael Arcuri (D-NY, Betty Sutton (D-OH), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Steve Kagen [...]
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Scott Boos at the Alliance for American Manufacturing has published an analysis of Congressional efforts to boost domestic clean energy technology and producton… Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to “examine the effectiveness of current energy tax policy.” The focus of the hearing was on how the U.S. could contend with [...]
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The Census has been purchasing promotional materials for Census 2010 that were manufactured overseas, and Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-IL) is not happy about it.
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On Thursday, April 22, 2010, the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, groups representing workers, industry, and environmental groups will be lobbying Senate offices, urging members to support policies that ensure American manufacturing capacity is used to meet the increasing demand for renewable energy production. They will be joined by clean energy manufacturing workers from across [...]
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When will we learn that outsourcing to China proves hazardous to our health?… The Miley Cyrus line of bracelets and necklaces contain toxic levels of cadmium. As the Associated Press and USA Today are reporting, the jewelry (which was made in China) is dangerous to children’s health. Cadmium is a known carcinogen, with long-term exposure [...]
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Nearly one year ago, President Obama invoked a trade law known as “421” for the first and only time in the decade the law has been in effect and imposed tariffs on some automobile tire imports from China, which have been surging into the United States from 2004 to 2008. The decision was very controversial. [...]
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers have co-authored an op-ed ahead of the G-20 urging an international agenda that focuses on “work to stabilize debt levels, enact new financial regulation, and reduce…dependence on fossil fuels.” This sounds laudable, and who could object to stabilizing debt levels? Unfortunately, their lengthy [...]
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Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department delayed publication of its semi-annual report on currency. The three-month rollback was intended to give China an opportunity to demonstrate progress on adjusting its undervalued currency, the Yuan. This grace period will likely prove fruitless, noting Beijing’s subsequent intrasigence on the issue. Because Beijing is unwilling to make an effort, [...]
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Hu knew. Chinese president Hu Jintao knew that upon coming to Washington for Obama’s nuclear security summit he would have to have a serious chat about currency with President Obama and Secretary Geithner. Hu also knew that he wasn’t ready to cooporate. On Monday, talks between the three economic power players (Jintao, Obama, and Geithner) [...]
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In 2005, China incrementally budged its currency after heavy pressure from the U.S. The move was expected to “trim the trade gap” between the two countries. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as annual trade figures from the Census Bureau demonstrate: 2009 $226.8 billion (a drop-of from previous year due to recession) 2008 $268 billion 2007 $258 [...]
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