PITTSBURGH, Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard issued the following statement upon release by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) of a groundbreaking study that found millions of jobs would be created in the U.S. by ending the practice of currency manipulation by our trading partners.

The study by Robert E. Scott, titled: 'Stop Currency Manipulation and Create Millions of Jobs,' supports strong new disciplines in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, coupled with provisions in U.S. law to give injured parties the ability to act when their government won't.

"Creating jobs should be our highest priority.   Our nation's economic recovery is in jeopardy of stalling.   Our unemployment rate is dropping because too many people have simply given up hope of finding a job.   Today's EPI study proves that ending currency manipulation would create millions of jobs all across our country.   So why won't Washington act?

"For years, workers have called on political leaders to confront China's currency manipulation.   This new study makes clear what the benefits would be.   Therefore, the only reason our leaders refuse to act could only be they're protecting someone else's interests.  

"It's got to be either the multinational companies who have offshored and outsourced their production, or because they want to protect political leaders in other countries. They seem to have forgotten who they should be helping -- people in their own country, who work hard, play by the rules and simply want a fair chance to compete.

"Political leader after political leader claim they want to get tough on trade.   They commit to addressing the issue.   But, year after year, our trading partners game the system and cheat us out of the opportunity to sell to their customers and flood our market with subsidized products.   The EPI study makes this clear to the millions of workers who know they could be earning a decent living if only Speaker Boehner, Leader McConnell and more Republicans would join in putting jobs at the top of their agendas.  

"Workers have been waiting for Republicans to pay more than lip service to creating jobs in this country.

"China is clearly the leading offender.   But, other countries see that America is willing to ignore cheating so, they might as well do it too.   Japanese leaders are smiling to themselves, hoping that the U.S. will finish negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without requiring meaningful disciplines on currency backed up by legislation giving injured U.S. parties the ability to fight for their interests when their own government refuses to act. 

"There are many issues which will determine whether TPP has a chance of passing, but failure to meaningfully address currency manipulation backed up by changes in U.S. law will ensure TPP is 'DOA' (dead on arrival).

"Advocates for the public interest are rightly focused on transparency.   The failure to address currency manipulation is a clear and transparent gift of U.S. jobs to our trading partners and those companies which have moved their production and sourcing overseas.  

"The Administration has the power to act, but is essentially sitting on its hands.  Now is the time for the Congressional Republican leadership to join with an overwhelming number of Democrats and a small, but growing group of Republicans, to enact legislation that gives both companies and workers the right to fight for America's interests.

"Congress should pass pending legislation (H.R. 1276 and S. 1114) on currency manipulation and urge the Administration to implement strategies in the TPP that would stop currency manipulating governments from continuing to use this practice to steal American jobs."

The full EPI study is available HERE. The EPI report suggests that by realigning exchange rates, US. trade deficits would be reduced by up to $500 billion per year by 2015 and could support creation of up to 5.8 million jobs.

The USW is the largest private-sector union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments. For more information: www.usw.org.

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Contact: Gary Hubbard, 202-256-8125; [email protected]
Wayne Ranick, 412-562-2442; [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)