Press
China to boost the value of its currency. Slap duties on Chinese
imports. Cut costs for U.S. health insurance and taxes. Boost spending
on U.S. education. Check labels and buy American.
South Florida executives offered a range of proposals to U.S. officials
Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale to revitalize the manufacturing sector
that has lost 37,000 jobs in South Florida and more than 2 million
nationwide during the past decade, many since the 2001 recession.
Heated talks revolved largely around China, which has emerged as the
No. 2 supplier to the United States and is forecast to sell $120 billion
more in goods to the U.S. market than it buys this year.
U.S. Rep.
Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, blasted China for manipulating its
currency
to keep its value "artificially low" and make
Chinese goods "overly competitive" in the U.S. market. He's
sponsoring a bill that would investigate China's currency practices
and penalize manipulation with new import duties on Chinese goods.
But Douglas Pearl, executive vice president of tool maker Uni- weld
Products Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, called for more drastic action, complaining
Chinese factories have copied and sell knockoffs of his patented products.
With Chinese enforcement of trade laws weak, Pearl suggested issuing
some kind of trade certificates that would require a balance in buying
and selling goods between the two countries.
"We're exporting our wealth," Pearl said of the growing
deficit with China. "We have to make it fair trade, not free trade."
Washington can aid at home, too, by helping producers cut outlays
on insurance and taxes, said Jon Cooper, president of Lighting Components
and Design Inc., a manufacturer in Deerfield Beach.
"I can deal with $7.50 an hour for labor in South Florida versus
$1 an hour in China," Cooper said. "But I can't put $18-$20
an hour on top of that because of health insurance, worker's comp and
tax rates."
A top Commerce Department official, Joseph V. Schwan, said the administration
is addressing the problems partly by increasing assistance for U.S.
exporters, cracking down on unfair trade practices worldwide and creating
an undersecretary of commerce for manufacturing to boost manufacturing's
profile.
But Boynton Beach-based business consultant Jack Green of The Arrow
House Group Inc. challenged manufacturers to think creatively to compete,
not to rely on old technologies or products.
"You may have to change the game, not the rules," Green
said, urging innovation.
Consumers also can help boost manufacturing by checking labels and
choosing products made in the United States, said Brian Javeline of
computer networking company Accelerated Computer Technologies Inc.
of Pompano Beach.
"Buy American. Start taking some responsibility," said Javeline,
pointing to a parking lot filled mainly with foreign cars next to his
U.S.-made Jeep. "You are part of the problem."
Press Room 
