WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY) issued the following statements following Japan’s announcement that it would seek to enter the Transpacific Partnership negotiations. Also, yesterday Reps. Levin and Rangel joined in a letter signed by 50 members of the House and Senate to President Obama sounding the alarm on Japan’s interest.
LEVIN: “The automotive sector represents a full two-thirds of our deficit with Japan and as our auto manufacturers and workers have been at the forefront of our nation’s economic recovery, we need to send a clarion call about the history of Japan’s closed market. It is hard to imagine how TPP negotiations could transform a perpetually closed Japanese automotive market and level the playing field for our automotive companies and their workers, particularly given the Administration’s goal of concluding by the end of this year a high-standard agreement that truly opens foreign markets to U.S. exports."
RANGEL: “The United States and Japan are key allies and friends. A flawed, one-way trade agreement that benefits Japan at the expense of American manufacturers will not strengthen our alliance."
