FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Barry Eisenberg
(202) 974-5210
beisenberg@plasticsindustry.org

SPI STATEMENT ON U.S. TRADE DEFICIT AND CONGRESSMAN RYAN’S RENEWED CALL FOR CURRENCY MANIPULATION LEGISLATION
Bill Would Offer Relief to U.S. Manufacturers Harmed by Unfair Currency Practices

WASHINGTON, DC (February 15, 2008) –Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the trade gap for goods and services in 2007 decreased by 6.2 percent from $758.5 billion in 2006 to $711.6 billion. The trade deficit for goods alone decreased by 2.7 percent, from $838.3 billion in 2006 to $815.6 billion in 2007. Nonetheless, the trade deficit for goods with China swelled by more than 10 percent in 2007 to $256.3 billion, up from $232.6 billion in 2006. Following the release of these figures, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) and a bipartisan group of legislators held a press conference in the U.S. Capitol at which they renewed calls for currency manipulation legislation. Such legislation would strengthen existing laws to combat distorted exchange-rate policies and enhance the oversight over currency exchange rates.

SPI President and CEO William R. Carteaux issued the following statement:

“The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) welcomes the reduction in the overall trade deficit, but remains extremely troubled by the growing deficit with China. Although the plastics industry overall enjoyed a $10.9 billion surplus in 2007, plastic products, molds and equipment continued to experience substantial trade deficits. In particular, the trade deficit in plastic products with China continued to grow at an unabashed pace, increasing from $6.5 billion in 2006 to $7.3 billion in 2007.

“Now, more than ever, the plastics industry needs strong legislation to address currency manipulation, a longstanding impediment to U.S. trade. For too long, our trading partners have been allowed to maintain unfair currency practices to the detriment of U.S. manufacturers. Diplomacy alone, contrary to the claims of the Administration, will not persuade countries like China to modify their currency practices all the while that they gain a significant trade advantage from such practices. And while China stands out as the trading partner whose exchange-rate practices are causing the most harm to U.S. interests, China is not alone in the use of such policies to sustain strong export growth and stem U.S. imports into its market.

“The U.S. plastics industry is a technologically-advanced and capital-intensive industry, which is willing and able to compete in the global marketplace. Such competition, however, is extremely difficult when countries such as China provide unfair advantages to their domestic manufacturers by undervaluing their currencies by up to 40 percent. Along with high natural gas and energy prices, this has been an external pressure that unnecessarily burdens the industry’s competitiveness.

“The bill (H.R. 2942) offered by Representatives Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Duncan Hunter (R-CA) provides a legislative approach to tackling the trade distortions created by problematic exchange-rate practices. On behalf of the U.S. plastics industry, I commend Representatives Ryan and Hunter for their unfaltering commitment to addressing the significant problem of exchange rate misalignment. With this bill, they demonstrate a true understanding of how important strong enforcement of U.S. trading rights is to our nation’s global competitiveness. SPI urges others in Congress to recognize that robust U.S. manufacturing is essential to the economic well-being of the United States, and to support Representatives Ryan and Hunter in passing this legislation. No better economic stimulus is available to U.S. manufacturing than a bill that allows them to fairly compete with the rest of the world.

“Passage of a law to remedy injurious exchange-rate misalignment remains a key priority for SPI, and we will continue to partner with our many industry allies in the China Currency Coalition to achieve this goal.”

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Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.1 million workers and provides nearly $379 billion in annual shipments.

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