SPI praises “Fair Currency Practices” bill

The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) applauded U.S. legislation introduced to take action against injurious imports that are subsidized as the result of exchange-rate undervaluation by China and other countries.

The “United States Fair Currency Practices Act of 2006”, introduced on Sept. 28 by Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, is a welcome remedy to combat distorted exchange-rate policies that are damaging to U.S. trade, according to William Carteaux, SPI’s president. “The U.S. plastics industry has for too long felt the adverse impact of China’s [and our other trading partners’] unfair currency practices,” Carteaux said. “[And while] Congress can’t fix all of the industry’s problems, our lawmakers can certainly enact laws to help sustain U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. On behalf of the industry, I commend Senator Bunning for his steadfast commitment to the U.S. manufacturers.”

Designed as a companion bill to the “China Currency Act of 2005”, Senator Bunning’s bill strengthens existing laws to combat distorted exchange-rate policies by directing the U.S. Treasury Department to identify and take action against trading partners whose currencies are “fundamentally misaligned” with general macroeconomic conditions. The bill also gives U.S. manufacturers injured by unfair currency practices access to relief under U.S. trade laws.

“Senator Bunning’s bill strikes a reasonable balance between addressing the global macroeconomic impacts of currency misalignments and giving concrete relief to injured U.S. producers in a WTO-consistent manner,” Carteaux said.