ACTION ALERT - EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT (HR 800, S 1041) MAY BE HEADED FOR SENATE VOTE: CONTACT YOUR SENATOR TODAY!

The U. S. Senate may vote on the so-called Employee Free Choice Act as early as the week of June 18, 2007. The legislation has already passed the House of Representatives (HR 800), and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced companion legislation, S 1041. These bills would allow unions to organize a company's workforce merely by obtaining signature cards from a majority of workers in the prospective bargaining unit. Under current law, once a sufficient number of cards have been signed, the union may petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election, which must be held by secret ballot within 60 days.

Action requested:
Contact your Senators TODAY and urge them to oppose either of these two bills (HR 800 or S 1041), or any similar legislation, on the floor of the U. S. Senate. Click here for a sample letter for your use.

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CONGRESS POISED TO TAKE AGGRESSIVE STEPS TO ADDRESS CHINESE CURRENCY MANIPULATION

Congress appears ready to address China's continued currency manipulation with legislative action after another round of U.S./China diplomatic talks the week of May 21 produced no substantial action on the part of the Chinese.

The Senate is expected to introduce legislation in June or July that sources say will accomplish the following: 1) mandate that the U.S. Treasury Department intervene in global markets if currencies become fundamentally "misaligned"; 2) shift the oversight emphasis for currency manipulation issues from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the World Trade Organization (WTO); 3) propose a new WTO case defining China's weak currency as an unfair subsidy, allowing companies to petition for duties on Chinese products based on currency manipulation.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives is planning to move forward with China legislation that would identify currency manipulation as a prohibited export subsidy and allow companies to seek trade remedy relief. Members of the House have also filed an official request with the Bush Administration to formally investigate whether China's currency policies violate their WTO obligations in what is referred to as a Section 301 investigation. Section 301 investigations on China have been proposed in the past, but the Bush Administration has rejected them immediately. The current request by a bi-partisan group of 36 Members of Congress awaits official response from the Administration.

The yuan has appreciated 8% against the dollar since 2005, including a 2.1% boost engineered by Beijing in July 2001. In May 2007, China announced that it would widen the range within which the currency can trade daily from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent.

FIA supports U.S. policies and actions designed to produce a quick and substantial revaluation of the Chinese yuan to reflect its true value, as well as enforcement of WTO and IMF rules against currency manipulation of all types. We will continue to keep you updated on the status of legislative action on this critical issue.

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