Dayton Daily News...
Manufacturing seen key to saving economy
Senators urge focus on manufacturing jobs, fair trade.
By Steve Bennish

Thursday, August 18, 2011 

Americans believe restoring manufacturing — a vital but declining component of Ohio’s economy — is key to prosperity, a new national poll commissioned by an industry group found. 

Meanwhile, as fears of a double-dip recession deepen, Ohio Sens. Rob Portman, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, signed an urgent bipartisan appeal to the U.S. Department of Commerce to counter Chinese product dumping that hurts Ohio manufacturers including those serving the emerging renewable energy industry. 

The senators say the Obama administration is taking too long to implement policy changes that could create jobs. Commerce proposed a tougher line in January but still has not implemented the change. 

“Opening markets to increase American exports and vigorous enforcement of trade laws go hand-in-hand,” said Portman, who was appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction on Aug. 10. “When countries such as China use unfair tax and trade laws to put U.S. companies at a disadvantage, our government must aggressively fight to change these policies.” 

In response to a Daily News query, the Commerce Department said it’s still working to adjust practices to counter the dumping tactics. The agency, in a written response, said it’s focused on helping “ensure that U.S. companies are given every opportunity to compete on a level playing field and to develop the competitive strength to expand into new markets.” 

A Dayton Daily News analysis found that by 2010, Ohio’s annual private payroll declined by $22 billion from total payroll in 2000, largely because of manufacturing declines from off shoring and globalization. 

The policy tweak is endorsed by the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws and the United Steel Workers. 

Economist Peter Morici, former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, calls the trade deficit with foreign nations the most significant barrier to jobs creation and growth in the U.S. 

“Simply, the U.S. economy suffers from too little demand for what Americans make, and every dollar that goes abroad to purchase oil or Chinese consumer goods that does not return to purchase exports is lost purchasing power that could be creating jobs. Halving the nearly $600 billion annual trade deficit would create at least 5 million jobs,” he said. 

The national poll conducted by the Mellman Group and Ayres, McHenry & Associates, says voters want Washington policy makers to focus on fostering good-paying jobs in manufacturing, which they believe will restore America’s lost status as the world’s number one economy. Some observers say China overtook the U.S. in manufacturing in 2010. 

“This poll is a stark reminder that while official Washington goes back and forth in our newest crisis, Americans still feel no one is focusing on the real problems that matter to them: losing jobs, losing our manufacturing base, and the decline of our position in the world,” said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a labor/management group that includes U.S. Steel and other companies in the strategic steel industry, and the United Steelworkers. The study included eight focus groups nationwide, along with a random national survey of 1,202 likely voters. It found that across the spectrum, Democratic and Republican voters ranked job creation and rebuilding the nation’s manufacturing base at the top of their list of priorities, the Alliance said. 

When asked to select the most important task for Congress and the president, “creating new manufacturing jobs,” which ranked just below creating jobs more generally, saw a bigger gain from 2010 (up 9 percent) than any other option, including deficit reduction, lower government spending, immigration reform, or addressing health care. 

“Voters see manufacturing as the key to recovery, and though it may surprise some pundits, this is the clear message from every voting demographic, including Tea Party and Republican voters,” Paul said. 

Alan H. McCoy, vice president, Government & Public Relations for AK Steel, said the company, which is based in Butler County’s West Chester Twp., agrees that manufacturing is key to the economic health of the state. 

“We need to find a way to make it more attractive to bring those manufacturing jobs back.” 

Read it at the Dayton Daily News