Letter from Carl Levin

Dear Mr. Former:

Given the importance of manufacturing and especially automotive manufacturing to Michigan and the Nation, I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on my recent efforts to help maintain a strong manufacturing base.

We need to turn around the drain of manufacturing jobs in the United States. These are solid, well paying jobs with benefits, many of which are going overseas. We have lost 2.9 million manufacturing jobs since 2001, almost 192,500 in the automotive sector. We need to take bold action to revitalize our domestic manufacturing industry. If we fail to take initiatives to allow manufacturers to compete fairly, millions more manufacturing jobs may be lost.

There are a number of things that can and should be done on a federal level to help American manufacturers compete globally. Currently, our companies are not competing with other companies; they’re competing with other countries because of unfair trade policies. For instance, Japanese manufacturers get a government subsidy because the Government of Japan manipulates its currency in order to give Japanese exports an unfair price advantage over U.S. products. We also have a huge and growing trade imbalance with China because the Chinese Government won’t let us sell goods in China that are made in the United States. So far our government has done nothing to stop these unfair trade practices, and this inaction is costing us jobs.

I have been working with the Michigan Congressional delegation to generate more vigorous federal action to help establish a level playing field for American manufacturers. Earlier this month, as a follow up to a meeting between President Bush and the Chief Executive Officers of Ford Motor Company, General Motors and the Chrysler Group, Congressman John Dingell and I joined all 17 members of Michigan’s bipartisan congressional delegation in writing to President Bush urging him to take federal action on the following key issues important to American manufacturing. I wanted to share that letter with you, which you can read by clicking on the following link:[http://www.levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2006/delegationltr.autos.112106.pdf].

American manufacturers do not need favorable treatment in the global marketplace. Given a level playing field, American manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world. However, they need fair treatment and I will continue to work to make sure they get it.

Sincerely,
Carl Levin