(Congressman Mike) Rogers: Time to play hardball with China

Daily Press and Argus ^ | 7-17-05 | Jim Totten

[Dan from Michigan]

Rogers: Time to play hardball with China By Jim Totten

As the United States continues to lose jobs due to Chinese trade practices, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, said it's time to take the kid gloves off and play hardball.

He's excited that several leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives are ready to move his legislation that would put pressure on China to change some of its economic policies.

"For the first time, we have an aggressive bill that targets Chinese cheating of our economy and stealing of our jobs," Rogers said.

Rogers said his bill would crack down on Chinese currency manipulation, illegal government subsidies and counterfeiting of U.S. goods. He said this effort is very important to Michigan manufacturers. This month, Rogers visited the Brighton manufacturing facility of Ebersp?cher North America, which produces exhaust systems and catalytic converters for the auto industry, to promote his legislation.

Rogers said the FBI has found counterfeits of products produced by Michigan companies, including TRW, which has facilities in Fowlerville and Tyrone Township.

He has said that Chinese manufacturers are targeting the auto market as their next area for strategic growth, and he pointed out that one in seven jobs in the United States is connected to the U.S. auto industry; a higher proportion of jobs in southeast Michigan are auto-related.

He said his bill would send about 30 more investigators to China to search out manufacturers of counterfeit goods and government subsidies that go against trade agreements. It would also create a deputy for trade enforcement in the U.S. trade representative's office. Rogers originally proposed adding 100 investigators. Under his legislation, Rogers said a tariff could be applied to Chinese products if its determined there's been currency manipulation or unfair trading.

[YOUGOTIT]

It is time to play hard ball with the anti-American democrats. It will do no good to play hard ball with China if you continue to allow the democrats to ruin the country.

[CondorFlight]

Right.
No more trips to Walmart!
That'll fix Beijing!!

[ClaireSolt]

They need to pay attention to their unions and their labor policies. That's what sends jobs overseas. How many of those unions have ever offered to buy a business out to keep the jobs in the US, for instance?

[Williams]

The only real hardball to be played with China is to construct the fleet necessary to dash any chance of China succesfully seizing the sea lanes and conquering Taiwan. This is one lapse by teh Bush administration that concerns me. Ronald Reagan's example should be followed here.

[Graymatter]

It would be well, but it wouldn't be enough. On one hand we're selling out to the Chinese, on the other we're opening our doors to illegals---and other criminals. Both parties have some responsibility here, and globalism is the new suit on the old devil, socialism. It's being marketed as the technologically correct thing, the rational, scientific response to the world as it is, inevitable and proper. Our boundaries---geographic and cultural---must fall. (And ours first. Just trust China to be right behind us! Don't they have the same technology, dissolving their artificial national boundaries, and don't they also desire "one world?")
We need a good dose of nationalism, and where will that be administered? Not via the media, not via the public schools.

I have no answers and I'm not hopeful.

[superiorslots]

Most factory jobs are not union. We had 3 local manufacturing firms that paid nice wages, they were not union and they are now in china.

[em2vn]

Union or non-union makes no difference. The pennies on the hour wages paid in China along with the complete non-existence of any safety or environmental laws is what draws jobs to China.
Remember this one thing; corporations have no patriotism or concern for national welfare. There total focus is the continue production of wealth regardless of the political system they operate under.

[elmer fudd]

We need to be prepared to play economic hardball with China, not because of the economy, but for reasons of national security. The Chinese need to know in no uncertain terms that if they make a move against Taiwan that we will immediately stop all trade, seize whatever goods and assets of theirs we can and that they'll lose their huge investment in t-bills.

Right now, I doubt they think that we would do any of those things.

[thejokker]

"Remember this one thing; corporations have no patriotism or concern for national welfare. There total focus is the continue production of wealth regardless of the political system they operate under."

companies that operate contrary to national interests should not be treated as national companies. companies that ignore national interests do not deserve "tax cuts" or other advantages.