The White House on Monday announced a move to stop Chinese subsidies of its auto industry - four days after Republican challenger Mitt Romney launched an advertising campaign accusing the president of allowing American manufacturing jobs to be lost to the Asian power.
The issue hits home among working class voters in manufacturing swing states such as Ohio, where President Barack Obama has gained recently in polls and touted his new action Monday. The White House says more than 850,000 jobs in the state are related to the auto industry.
Obama told thousands gathered at a pavilion in Cincinnati's leafy Eden Park that Romney made money from companies that outsourced jobs to China while running the private equity firm Bain Capital. The crowd jeered. Obama responded, "Don't boo. Vote!"
In Youngstown, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan expressed his satisfaction with the president's move.
"It is another opportunity for the auto parts suppliers here in Ohio to benefit from the president's policies," Ryan said, pointing out previous tariffs that have been added to Chinese tires and Chinese tubular steel.
"If anybody in this community wants to see how aggressive and positive the president's policies on China have been, just take a drive down (U.S. Route) 422," Ryan said, referring to the multi-million expansion underway at V&M Star, which manufactures the tubular steel.
Ryan said, by comparison, China's Steel, which receives governmental subsidies, can be manufactured and shipped to the local market at a price comparable to Wheatland's raw costs.
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Monday it has asked the World Trade Organization to intervene with China over illegal subsidies of exports in their autos and auto parts sectors. The U.S. says the practice puts American parts manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage and encourages the outsourcing of production to China.
Jobs in the U.S. auto parts sector dropped by roughly half between 2001 and 2010, while U.S. imports of auto parts from China have increased seven-fold, according to the Obama administration.
The administration is also escalating another case it brought against China at the WTO in July that accuses China of imposing unfair duties on more than $3 billion in exports of U.S. autos. The duties cover more than 80 percent of American auto exports to China, said the officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss publicly details of the trade action before the president announces it.
The cases stem from the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center Obama set up earlier this year to target unfair practices around the world, particularly in China.
Action by the WTO could mean good news for local suppliers to the Lordstown General Motors complex. Among them are GM Components Holdings in Youngstown, which manufactures radiators, Norplas Industries in youngstown, which manufactures fascias and Magna Seating of America. Attempts to contact these businesses for comment after hours on Monday were not successful.
Obama spoke on the trade topic during campaign stops Monday in Ohio.
"You can't stand up to China when all you've done is send them our jobs," Obama said. "You can talk a good game. But I like to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And my experience has been waking up every single day doing everything I can to make sure that American workers get a fair shot in the global economy."
Romney responded by accusing Obama of ignoring China for too long and promised to act from his first day in office to help U.S. businesses compete. "If I'd known all it took to get him to take action was to run an ad citing his inaction on China's cheating, I would have run one long ago," Romney said in a speech before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles.
Romney went over the five steps of his plan that he says will create 12 million new jobs - achieve energy independence, give every child a quality education, reach new trade agreements while cracking down on countries that break the rules, cut the deficit and cut federal employment. "We can do better than this lackluster economy," Romney said.
Obama and Romney began trading barbs on China late last week.
Romney released a television advertisement Thursday accusing Obama of "failing American workers" and ignoring unfair trade practices by China. In his weekly podcast Saturday Romney said that "in 2008, candidate Obama promised to take China to the mat." But since then, he's let China run all over us."
Obama countered with a TV spot focused on its claims that Romney outsourced jobs to China while working in the private sector. His campaign also released a new Web video Saturday in which Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said Romney holds investments in Chinese companies.
Romney's campaign piled on Monday with two new spots: one outlining his plan for job creation and the other assailing Obama for a growing national debt.