Chairman Levin Issues Online Fact Check on China Tires

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander M. Levin (D-MI) posted on his website a special section devoted to the Obama Administration's decision to provide temporary relief as recommended by the independent International Trade Commission (ITC) on tire imports from China. The website can be accessed by here.

Chairman Levin issued the following statement on the issue:

"There are two essential parts to an effective trade policy in this era of globalization: it is necessary to expand trade; it is also necessary to create and implement rules that govern that expansion. Enforcement of those rules is the opposite of protectionism – and indeed is a weapon against it.

"Embracing one of these parts and rejecting the other is self-defeating, accentuating the polarization that has handicapped the discussion and development of effective trade policies.

"Another key to avoiding a polarizing debate is to get the facts straight.

"The ITC found a market-disrupting surge in tire imports from China based on the facts and spelled out in detail in the majority decision. In the responses to the President's decision there have been numerous misstatements of the facts. Correcting the record is essential to a useful discussion as the Administration and Congress develop a new and effective U.S. trade policy."

The website includes background on the decision, questions and answers and a Setting the Record Straight Section which provides analysis of misstatements in the media.

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