Like A Good Progressive, Obama Sues China Regarding Trade On Autos

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Last updated on February 9th, 2013 at 12:15 pm

Since President Theodore Roosevelt’s progressive party, progressives have been the ones to protect the American economy and the American worker.

From the Progressive party’s platform:

TARIFFS “We believe in a protective tariff which shall equalize conditions of competition between the United States and foreign countries, both for the farmer and the manufacturer, and which shall maintain for labor an adequate standard of living.

Well, President Obama is once again taking on bad trade practices of China. The Hill is reporting,

“President Obama will announce a World Trade Organization suit against China on Thursday during a campaign appearance in Toledo.

The suit will attack duties China imposed earlier this year on U.S. auto imports, according to a report in the Toledo Blade. Obama and the United States argue the duties violate international trade rules.”

“China imposed duties on U.S. autos because it argued Chrysler and General Motors vehicles were subsidized by the United States as a result of the bailout effort backed by Obama.”

If you remember back in 2009, the United States and President Obama imposed tariffs on Chinese made tires.

“In one of his first major decisions on trade policy, President Obama opted Friday to impose a tariff on tires from China, a move that fulfills his campaign promise to “crack down” on imports that unfairly undermine American workers…” the Washington Post reported.

“The decision is intended to bolster the ailing U.S. tire industry, in which more than 5,000 jobs have been lost over the past five years as the volume of Chinese tires in the market has tripled.”

So to the critics who are going to say, this is most recent trade action is just a campaign stunt, I disagree. President Obama has been dealing with trade related issues since his first year in office.

Could President Obama do more? Possibly. But progress takes hundreds of tiny steps to make the journey complete.