Stephanie Salmon, AFS Washington Office; Jeff Hannapel & Christian Richter, The Policy Group, Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON ALERT
Commission Examines Economic Challenges From Chinese Manufacturers and SOEs
MANUFACTURING REPS PROPOSE BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ELIMINATING TRADE GAPS. Te U.S.-China Economic and
Security Review Commission held a public hearing on Feb. 21 to examine challenges to the U.S. economy from Chinese competition in manufacturing and state owned enterprises (SOEs), as well as assess problems with trade law enforcement and negotiations with China. During the first panel of the hearing, “Te Impact of the U.S.-China Relationship on U.S. Jobs,” two repre- sentatives of the manufacturing industry provided testimonies on the issue. Dr. Robert Scott, Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute, argued that underinvestment in infrastructure reduces the efficiency of the economy and the competitiveness of U.S. manu- facturing. He reported the U.S. needs $3.6 trillion in infrastructure invest- ment by 2020 and that the country needs to rebuild U.S. manufacturing by enacting policies which would more effectively stimulate demand, such as ending currency manipulation, rebuilding infrastructure, investing in
ON THE HILL
DOE Seeks to Fund R&D to Advance Access to Critical Materials
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Feb. 14 it is making $3 million available for research and development to help grow U.S. low to moderate-temper- ature geothermal resources and support a domestic supply of critical materials, such as lithium carbonate and rare earth elements. The Energy Department will fund up to ten feasibility studies and/or applied research and development projects to advance technologies that could lower the cost of geothermal energy production while diversifying and stabilizing the supply of critical materials for domestic industries. Rare earths and other critical materials are essential for a range of technologies, in- cluding electric vehicles and wind turbines,
for which a number of metalcasting facilities supply key castings.
Obama Seeks New Fuel Efficiency Rules to Cut Truck Pollution
President Obama announced he is direct- ing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop new regulations to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from truck tailpipes by March 2016. Currently, pollution from the transportation sector is the nation’s second- largest source of greenhouse gas pollution— the first is burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. The EPA issued its first round of fuel-economy regulations in 2011 for trucks and heavy-duty vehicles being built between 2014 to 2018.
The car and truck manufacturers have lobbied against aggressive increases in
federal fuel economy standards, arguing they could increase vehicle prices and diminish safety. In addition to announc- ing the new truck standards, President Obama called on Congress to cut $4 billion in the annual tax breaks to the oil and gas industry and funnel some of that money into a new “energy trust fund” aimed at researching alternative vehicle technologies, such as hybrids and electric vehicles. These proposals have little chance of passage in the current divided Congress, which has repeatedly rejected efforts to end any tax breaks for oil exploration or to back new funding for alternative energy.
For additional information, contact Stephanie Salmon, AFS Washington Off ice,
202-842-4864,
ssalmon@afsinc.org. March 2014 MODERN CASTING | 21
Investment in infrastructure would mean more castings needed in construction machinery.
clean and renewable technology indus- tries, and eliminating unfair trade poli- cies such as dumping and subsidies. Rebuilding U.S. infrastructure will create demands for domestic manu- factured products, including castings used in construction equipment, and will help rebuild overall demand in the domestic economy. Dr. Oded Shenkar, Ford Motor
Company Chair in Global Business Management and Professor at the Fisher School of Business at Te Ohio
State University, argued the lopsided trade gap between China and the U.S. is bound to have an adverse impact on U.S. employment, as the number of jobs generated by U.S. exports to China is unlikely to offset the number of U.S. jobs lost to Chinese imports. Te job impact of this trade flow is also bound to vary across regions and industries. To review the testimony and watch
the webinar, go to:
http://www.uscc. gov/Hearings/hearing-us-china- economic-challenges-webcast.
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