Press Release/Statement

During this campaign season, one issue has often been left out of the national discussion: the deterioration of our industrial base. More than three million manufacturing jobs have been lost over the last eight years alone and, for the first time since 1950, fewer than 14 million Americans are employed by domestic manufacturers.

Consider these figures alongside our annual global trade deficit of $815.6 billion, and it is clear that today’s workers are losing to foreign competitors. The rapid decline of our industrial strength, once called the “arsenal of democracy,” can be attributed to bad trade policies that severely disadvantage our workers.

The arsenal of democracy that carried Eisenhower’s forces to Berlin and ended the cold war is now found in other countries across the world. The few remaining textile, machine tool and steel companies in the United States must weigh whether to shift production overseas or risk having to close their doors altogether.

Free trade agreements should promote collective economic interests, but the policies of recent administrations have only made it more difficult for our workers to compete in the global market. China enjoys a $256 billion annual trade surplus with the United States, and thanks to subsidies and currency manipulation, Chinese products cost less here than our manufacturers have to pay just to procure raw materials.

We must eliminate this disparity and level the playing field. I have introduced legislation to declare currency manipulation an illegal export subsidy, and we should also have zero federal taxes on domestic manufacturing.

The presidential candidates must give serious attention to our declining industrial competitiveness. This debate is desperately needed if we are to reverse this damaging course and rebuild our manufacturing base.

Duncan Hunter is a Republican representative from California.