Key Vote Alert - China and Protectionism
KEY VOTE ALERT
Sponsorship of Bills Concerning Trade with China
The Club for Growth plans to subtract points in our annual congressional economic scorecard for the sponsorship, or co-sponsorship of all bills introduced in the House and Senate that impose, or threaten to impose, protectionist policies towards China. This will be heavily weighted on our 2007 Congressional scorecard.
There are several economic concerns that U.S. lawmakers have with China, but none of them can be resolved by imposing a tax upon ourselves, which is exactly what a tariff is, or otherwise restricting trade with one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Protectionist policies would stifle economic growth, increase prices, and cause higher unemployment and generally lower the standard of living of Americans.
The bills we plan to score include, but are not limited to, the bills proposed by Senators Schumer and Graham that would impose a 27.5% tax on Chinese imports, along with S. 796, HR 1229, HR 321 and HR 782.
The current protectionist rhetoric is eerily reminiscent of that which led to the Smoot-Hawley Act. That legislation triggered the stock market collapse of 1929, devastated the U.S. economy and exacerbated the Great Depression.
It is worth noting that Senator Reed Smoot and Congressman Willis Hawley were both defeated in the 1932 election following the passage of their bill.
Our Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to our members and to the public.
