INDIANAPOLIS – Congressman Rokita tried to prevent the United States from investigating currency manipulation by foreign countries like China who artificially depress the value of their currency to rig the system in their favor.
In 2015, Congressman Rokita voted against a motion which required the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate foreign governments for engaging in currency manipulation. The motion was struck down, preventing the U.S. government from cracking down on the attempts of countries like China to flood U.S. markets with artificially cheap goods.
This isn’t the only time Congressman Rokita voted to advance the interests of currency manipulators over American workers. Congressman Rokita has bragged about “[paving] the way” for more international free trade agreementsand voted repeatedly for fast track legislation to expedite consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the massive, pan-Asian free trade agreement that could have served as a backdoor deal with China.
China and other countries have been accused of engaging in currency manipulation, artificially pushing down the value of their currency, and the price of their exports, so they can flood the foreign markets like the United States with cheap goods that drive down wages here. One of the many major issues with the TPP was that it did nothing to tackle potential currency manipulation from countries like Japan, who could theoretically undermine Indiana’s auto industry by allowing easier entry into the U.S. for artificially cheap Japanese automobiles.
This release is part of Trade Madness, a three-week long series in which the IDP is highlighting Congressmen Messer’s and Rokita’s and Rep. Braun’s mad record of supporting disastrous trade deals and policies that make it easier to ship Hoosier jobs overseas.