GRANHOLM - Granholm to Bush: Stop Ignoring Unprecedented Challenges to American Manufacturers

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that President Bush must stop ignoring the challenges facing American manufacturers and start taking action to help American industries compete on a level playing field. The governor made her comments following the president’s speech in Washington D.C. to the National Association of Manufacturers.

“The president asked what he could do to help American manufacturers and then promoted a warmed-over version of his domestic agenda, ignoring the unprecedented challenges facing our manufacturers,” Granholm said. “Since the president took office, nine out of 10 job losses have been in the manufacturing sector. The Bush administration’s anemic enforcement of trade laws have cut deeply into industrial profits and employment since 2001. While it may be tough for the president to meet a trade deal he doesn’t like, American outsourcing victims have yet to see a deal he’ll enforce.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 47 states have had net job losses in the manufacturing sector from 2001 to 2006. And since 2000, the U.S. bilateral trade deficit with China has increased by 250 percent and is now the largest imbalance ever recorded with a single country. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the trade imbalances in manufacturing have accounted for 59 percent of the decline in manufacturing employment, or 1.78 million jobs lost since 1998.

“No sector today is more at risk than the manufacturing sector,” Granholm said. “The surging trade imbalances in manufacturing, facilitated by unfair trading practices, have accounted for much of the decline in manufacturing employment. We need our president to stop ignoring the problem and start standing up for American industry,” Granholm said.

In early July, Granholm urged President Bush to grant a meeting as soon as possible to our domestic automobile industry leaders to resolve critical issues and avoid severe harm to our nation’s manufacturing sector and overall economic prosperity. The president has three times postponed the meeting with the domestic automakers and at this time the meeting remains unscheduled.

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