Ohio senators express concern over China’s new auto tariffs

“If China’s flagrant currency manipulation and hoarding of rare earth materials wasn’t enough to hurt Ohio manufacturers, now comes the news that its government has decided to impose new, unwarranted tariffs on American-made automobiles,” he said. 

The Ohio Democrat spearheaded, this fall, passage of legislation that would punish China for not letting its currency appreciate faster. 

“Ohio auto manufacturers should not be subjected to unfair tariffs imposed by China and deserve to compete on a level playing field,” Portman said. “I hope that USTR will quickly work to resolve this dispute that will hurt Ohio jobs.”

When China announced the decision last week, House lawmakers and the USTR quickly responded. 

“We are very disappointed in this action by China,” the USTR’s office said. 

“We will be discussing this latest action with both our stakeholders and Congress to determine the best course going forward,” a spokeswoman wrote.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers said they were “extremely concerned by China’s announcement,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), ranking member Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), subcommittee on Trade Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and subcommittee on Trade ranking member Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) in a joint statement. 

Portman and Brown also reiterated their concerns — previously expressed to the USTR and to other agencies in the Obama administration — regarding China’s other, possible trade violations, including intellectual property, the Chinese government’s continued support for thousands of state-owned enterprises, the persistent problem of transshipment and mislabeling of products coming from China that evade U.S. customs duties and the hoarding of rare-earth minerals, among other areas. 

“Additionally, we believe that China is manipulating their currency to the detriment of American workers and exporters,” the said. 

The duties were announced about two weeks after the U.S. International Trade Commission would continue an examination into whether China is dumping solar panels on the U.S. market. 

Levin, along with 58 other lawmakers, sent a letter to President Obama on Dec. 2 urging an investigation into the allegations of possible unfair trade practices by China on clean-energy products, the same day the ITC announced it would continue looking into the issue.