Currency manipulation by Japan—the second largest currency manipulator in the world—is a major driver of the U.S.-Japan trade deficit, which cost nearly 900,000 U.S. jobs in 2013.
[Reposted from the Economic Policy Institute blog | Robert Scott | February 25, 2015]
As the map below shows, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan resulted in net job losses in all but three U.S. congressional districts, and has displaced up to 6,000 jobs in a single U.S. congressional district. The 10th Congressional District in Michigan was the hardest hit district in the country, in terms of jobs displaced as a share of total district employment, losing 5,500 jobs (1.78 percent of total employment). In the 20 congressional districts with the largest shares of jobs lost, losses ranged from 3,100 to 6,000 jobs. Among the top 20 U.S. congressional districts, job losses as a share of district employment ranged from 1.17 percent to 1.78 percent. The states hardest hit by job loss were Michigan (with 10 districts in the top 20, followed by Indiana (four districts), Ohio and South Carolina (two districts each), and California and Wisconsin (one each).
This map shows trade-related employment changes by congressional district for the 113th Congress (elected in 2012), using new congressional district boundaries from the 2010 Census. The map is interactive, and contains additional data on job losses due to the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.
Negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are nearing a conclusion. In addition to its trade deficit with Japan, the United States has a large and growing trade deficit with the 10 other countries in the TPP, many of which are well-known currency manipulators. Simply put, the United States should not sign a trade and investment deal with these countries that does not include strong prohibitions on currency manipulation.
