U.S. senators push trade prosecutor bill

U.S. senators push trade prosecutor bill

	Published : Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:42 By : Agencies Print this Story

WASHINGTON (AFX) - Manufacturers need an advocate to help enforce trade agreements and guard against illicit practices that cost U.S. jobs, two senators said Wednesday.

Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., outlined legislation that would create a trade prosecutor within the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and offer assistance to small businesses. The prosecutor would be empowered to investigate illegal trade practices and recommend prosecution of cases before the World Trade Organization.

'It's a place to go. It's a place for our businesses to know that they will have someone on their side who will take actions on their behalf,' Stabenow said.

The legislation is aimed at unfair trade practices -- currency manipulation, counterfeiting and trade barriers -- that have led to record U.S. trade deficits and contributed to the loss of 3 million manufacturing jobs since early 2001.

U.S. manufacturers say China is manipulating its currency to keep it undervalued against the dollar, making Chinese goods cheaper for American consumers and American products more expensive in China.

Members of Congress have pressured the administration to cite China for manipulating its currency, a move that could lead to possible U.S. trade sanctions. The trade prosecutor bill is among the approaches lawmakers have taken to increase the pressure.

Stabenow and Graham, who represent thousands of auto industry and textile workers who have been hardest hit, noted that the USTR has brought about 16 cases to the WTO during the Bush administration compared to 68 cases during the first five years of the Clinton administration.

They said U.S. manufacturers frequently are left on their own to fight counterfeiting cases in court, and the trade prosecutor would help give them an advocate.

'The American business community is competing not only with other entrepreneurs but also with governments who manipulate the marketplace,' Graham said.

Stabenow and Graham introduced similar legislation during the last Congress, but it failed to win support from some Republicans. The two lawmakers were optimistic of its passage this year.