May 18, 2010
Youngstown Vindicator (Letter to the Editor)

Even though the steel industry has begun to see signs of economic recovery, Ohio’s unemployment still hovers around 11 percent. We support the Obama Administration’s goal of doubling U.S. exports in the next five years to increase employment. But to do so, President Obama must address one of the biggest barriers to that goal: China’s undervalued currency. China undervalues the yuan by as much as 40 percent, giving its exports an unfair advantage over U.S. products in markets around the world.

In addition, the administration cannot keep imposing new regulations that stifle U.S. competitiveness and cost valuable jobs, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to regulate emissions from industrial sources under the Clean Air Act. New regulations like these continue to cripple our manufacturing base by discouraging new investment just as we are trying to come out of this recession.

Ohio is the heartland of U.S. manufacturing, including being the second highest state in steel production, generating $5.15 billion in value-added output. Let’s work together to increase exports by minimizing costly new regulations and taking action against governments, such as China, who don’t play by the rules.

- Thomas J. Gibson, Washington, D.C. The writer is president and CEO American Iron and Steel Institute.