The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) commended Senators Brown (D-OH) and Sessions (R-AL) Wednesday for their appeal to President Obama to formulate a national strategy to address the trade-distorting practice of currency manipulation and to support their bi-partisan currency legislation, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act, as a component of any such national plan on currency. The Senators wrote to the president in advance of the 2014 US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) – the high-level bilateral forum set to take place between the U.S. and China.
AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said, "Currency manipulation continues to put US manufacturers, including the US steel industry, at a great disadvantage against our foreign competitors. In order to remain internationally competitive, we need the Administration to insist that our trading partners adhere to their World Trade Organization obligations and hold them accountable when they do not. We, likewise, need Congress to pass strong and enforceable currency legislation, like the Brown/Sessions bill, which will provide domestic industry with a remedy when currency manipulation injures US businesses and their workers. We thank Senators Brown and Sessions for their efforts to strengthen our economy and protect American jobs, and we join in their request that the Administration take swift and decisive action to address this critical issue."