BEIJING, October 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of China regrets the passage yesterday by the US Senate of the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011. We believe the provisions of the bill are unnecessary and would be counterproductive to the goal of protecting US employment. The detailed reasons for our opposition were outlined in the September 21, 2011 letter sent to the Senate leadership, signed by AmCham-China and many other trade associations and available on our website. We urge the House of Representatives to refrain from taking further action on the bill.
"The Senate bill would damage the bilateral trade and investment relationship, weaken our standing in the World Trade Organization, and damage our national interests," said AmCham-China Chairman Ted Dean. "We oppose it. It should not become law."
"We call on members of Congress, instead, to press for improvement on the issues that our members have repeatedly told us matter most to them," Dean added. These include urging China to expand market access for American companies across a range of industries that continue to restrict foreign investment; strengthen its protection of intellectual property; and dismantle a web of preferential policies that benefit domestic firms at the expense of their foreign counterparts, undermining genuine competition.
AmCham-China also calls for support of US employment by increasing exports through the National Export Initiative. China has been the fastest-growing American export market over the past decade and now ranks as the third largest market for US goods and services.
About the American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of China:
AmCham-China is a national non-profit organization representing the interests of some 2,600 companies and individuals doing business throughout China. Headquartered in Beijing, it has chapters in Dalian, Central China (Wuhan) and Tianjin. For more information about the organization, visit: www.amchamchina.org