Manufacturing is my life. In 1979, I founded Auburn Manufacturing Inc. in Mechanic Falls, and I am proud to say that 36 years later, we’re still moving forward.
We are a small, woman-owned, advanced textile manufacturer with about 50 skilled local workers. We are the leading producer of very special heat-resistant fabrics sold in more than 35 countries — and the kind of small business that politicians often call the “backbone of our economy.”
But talking the talk isn’t walking the walk. When it comes to electing our next president, I want to know the candidate understands how national and global policies affect the lives of day-to-day workers and American manufacturers — and how to make real change when necessary.
Last week, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a bold call — one that I think is crucial to the future of my business and others like it. In a new statement, she called for denying China “market economy status” under the rules of the World Trade Organization.
Market economy status might sound obscure, but those of us whose livelihoods revolve around manufacturing and global trade — whether it is our textiles, footwear, paper and wood products or other products and technologies — know that it will be incredibly harmful to grant China market economy status.
China is currently treated as a nonmarket economy because the Chinese government controls much of its economy. Prices inside China are distorted. And subsidized Chinese companies often sell products in the United States and around the world at “dumped,” or unfairly low, prices with the intention of driving the price for U.S. products down so low that our companies can no longer compete and are forced out of business.
Dumped Chinese products are exactly what my company is fighting right now. We make amorphous silica fabric made from fiberglass that can withstand continuous temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and have a melting point of 3,000 degrees. We sell amorphous silica fabric not only to industries throughout the world, but to the U.S. Navy and its contractors, who use it to protect workers during hot work operations, such as welding. Making this fabric to stringent military specifications and third-party performance standards takes skilled labor, advanced technology and equipment, and a lot of energy and time. The process is not easy or cheap.
But that has not stopped Chinese manufacturers from dumping cheap, lower-quality amorphous silica fabric into the U.S. market at prices below what it costs to manufacture it. Over the last three years, our domestic sales of the fabric have dropped by 30 percent. We have lost millions of dollars in revenue due to Chinese dumping. For a small-manufacturing operation like ours that represents a huge blow to our company, our people and the entire U.S.-based supply chain — from raw materials to packaging materials and transportation.
If China is granted market economy status by the World Trade Organization, U.S. anti-dumping laws will be critically weakened — in fact, they will be nearly ineffective. It will be even easier for Chinese businesses to access American markets and much harder to impose punitive tariffs to enforce anti-dumping laws that protect companies like ours.
I now know firsthand what’s at stake over market economy status for China. It is a critical decision that will make a huge difference for hundreds of thousands of American workers and business owners at manufacturing companies across Maine and around the country. Every U.S. textile job supports three others, so our small company supports about 200 U.S. jobs. Those jobs are doomed to be added to the estimated 5 million jobs already lost due to Chinese dumping unless we have a means to level the playing field.
Clinton’s leadership in calling for China to be denied market economy status at the World Trade Organization sends a clear message about her priorities. Nothing could make it clearer to me that she understands the choices that matter in trade and manufacturing — and that she has the right judgement.
We need a president who won’t bow to unfair trade practices, who will stand up for American workers and American businesses. Clinton’s leadership in calling to deny market economy status to China proves she will be tough on unfair trade practices as our next president.
Kathie Leonard is founder and CEO of Auburn Manufacturing Inc., which has facilities in Mechanics Falls and Auburn. The company is currently pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions against China through the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission.