Lack of currency manipulation fix in TPP hurts jobs

Here's another reason for Congress to vote NO on "Fast-Track"

According to researchers at the Economic Policy Institute, using the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to end currency manipulation would create jobs in every congressional district. The only problem? There is no rule in the TPP to crack down on currency cheaters like Japan and China, and there never will be if Congress adopts "fast-track" legislation that would forbid itself from changing the terms of future trade agreements like the TPP.

Currency manipulation distorts trade flows by artificially lowering the cost of U.S. imports and raising the cost of U.S. exports, and is the leading cause of growing U.S. trade deficits. More than 20 countries, led by China, have been spending about $1 trillion per year buying foreign assets to artificially suppress the value of their currencies. Several members of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—including Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore—are well known currency manipulators, and others—including both Korea and China—have expressed interest in joining the agreement. Experts such as Peterson Institute for International Economics director emeritus C. Fred Bergsten and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers have recommended that new trade agreements address currency manipulation.

Currency manipulation can and should be addressed through trade agreements such as the TPP.Eliminating currency manipulation could reduce the U.S. trade deficit by between $200 and $500 billion, adding 2.0 to 4.9 percent to U.S. GDP and creating 2.3 to 5.8 million U.S. jobs, with about 40 percent (900,000 to 2.3 million) of those jobs gained in manufacturing. Furthermore, jobs would be gained in most or all congressional districts, as shown in the map below. By eliminating currency manipulation, each of the top 20 districts would gain at least 14,700 and as many as 24,400 jobs in the high impact scenario.

Use this interactive map to see how many jobs Congress could create if it cracked down on currency manipulation by foreign governments:

Call Congress at 1-855-712-8441 to tell your representative "No Fast Track for the TPP!"