Manufacturers For Trade Enforcement Grows Reach With New Members

Recycling, Metals Service and Other Industry Groups Join Coalition Calling for Fair Assessment of Chinese Market Economy Status

Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement continues to attract interest and support from U.S. industry groups calling for the fair application of domestic trade laws. Since the coalition’s launch in mid-March, six additional organizations have joined to oppose China’s request for automatic designation as a market economy at the end of 2016.

New members of the coalition include: 

These groups join founding members the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the Aluminum Association, the American Fiber Manufacturers Association, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Narrow Fabrics Institute, the National Council of Textile Organizations, the PET Resin Association and the U.S. Industrial Fabrics Institute.

“We’ve clearly struck a nerve with our call for the U.S. government to enforce our trade laws on China’s market economy status bid,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. “What we’re asking for is simple – that the U.S. government recognize the reality that China has not yet met the statutory requirements to be considered a market economy. And we have every reason to believe that the government will agree with this position and enforce the law.”

China has claimed that it should be automatically accorded treatment as if it were a market economy after the 15th anniversary of its accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2016.  U.S. law requires that the Department of Commerce make a market economy status (MES) determination based on established criteria, which many experts agree that China has not met.

With the new additions to the coalition, Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement organizations represent more than 1 million direct manufacturing jobs in the United States. Granting market economy status to China would put many of these jobs at risk by limiting U.S. manufacturers’ ability to seek remedies for unfair trade practices by Chinese firms.

State support of domestic manufacturing in China has distorted global markets, leading to significant oversupply and other issues that are hurting domestic manufacturers. In the aluminum industry alone, eight U.S.-based aluminum smelters have curtailed or closed since the beginning of 2015, representing more than 60 percent of U.S. primary aluminum capacity and impacting more than 3,000 workers. In November, the American Iron and Steel Institute presented research performed by three NAFTA-region economists demonstrating the negative impact to the steel industry and related industries in North America of granting China market economy status before China has made the necessary market-oriented reforms to its economy.

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Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement is a coalition of leading U.S. industry groups united in opposing China’s request for automatic designation as a market economy at the end of 2016. U.S. law requires that the Department of Commerce make a market economy status (MES) determination based on established criteria, which China has not met. State support of domestic manufacturing in China has distorted global markets, hurting domestic manufacturers. To learn more, please visit www.tradeenforcement.org.