Fact Check: Standing Up Against Unfair Trade, Kentucky Edition

By Taylor Garland
Jul 25 2014 |

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is out with a new campaign ad this week. In the spot, the senator highlights his efforts to “level the playing field” for Kentucky companies and workers, and points to 400 Kentucky jobs the Senator helped save in 2012. Watch it for yourself:

Now, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) is a nonpartisan organization. So while we aren’t taking sides, we want to make sure all the facts are presented.

In 2012, Senator McConnell allowed a vote on HR 4105 to come to the floor — a bill that would apply countervailing duties to nonmarket economies. The bill became law that year, saving those 400 Kentucky jobs.

That said, during that same year Senator McConnell actively sought to prevent a vote on a China currency bill. The bill would have named China as a currency manipulator — potentially creating 31,800 jobs in his home state, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute.

So has Mitch McConnell really done everything he could to "level the playing field," as he's said? That's … uncertain. Every job in Kentucky and across the country is worth saving, and that’s why every elected official should stand up to all unfair trade practices.