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Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) was joined by a diverse group of colleagues, union and environmental activists, faith and social justice leaders and consumer advocates to oppose Fast Track Authority, a policy designed to ram trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress with little transparency or debate. A proposal to grant these powers to President Obama is expected to be unveiled early this year.

“The President’s policies have helped bring back American manufacturing, and our auto industry is now at the front end of this renaissance,” said Dingell. “But a bad trade agreement jeopardizes the shared progress we’ve made. Fast Track does not allow Congress to conduct the necessary oversight to ensure trade legislation protects our economy and our workers. And it does not allow Congress to address countries that manipulate their currency to gain unfair advantage. This is the mother of all trade barriers.”

The effects of currency manipulation are being felt in the auto industry right now. With the Japanese yen at approximately ¥120/$1, the subsidy provided to Japanese companies exporting to the U.S. now tops $8,000 a vehicle. This has a tremendous impact on the competitiveness of domestic auto companies. Toyota, for example, made more in profits last year from currency than Ford made all last year in their worldwide operations.

“This is unfair and puts U.S. jobs at risk,” said Dingell. “It’s not free trade if all you end up exporting are middle class jobs. What I know about the auto industry is that they can out-compete any of their competitors. But they can’t out-compete the Bank of Japan and the Japanese Government.”