WASHINGTON - U.S. Congressmen are taking a more open view to pleas by electronics manufacturers to pressure China to revalue its currency.

"I think the Representatives are becoming attuned to manufacturing and our industry," Matt Holzmann, president of Christopher Group, told Circuits Assembly. "There's a growing awareness that [manufacturing] is our middle class."

 

Holzmann was one of about 40 persons from U.S.-based electronics manufacturers and suppliers who lobbied legislators in the nation's Capitol this week. The group pushed Congress for action on several pending bills that would mandate China to revalue its currency, the yuan, to open market levels. Many estimates place the actual value of the yuan at about 40% less than its current trading value.

Since the Asian currency crisis in 1995, China's government has tied the value of the yuan to that of the U.S. dollar.

Holzmann was one of a lobbying group that was coordinated by the trade association IPC. A fellow lobbyist, Mark Jankowski, a vice president at MacDermid, agreed that the awareness and reception the group received was improved over previous years. "I think something will happen this year," he said.

Earlier this week, another industry group, the National Association of Manufacturers, made several strong statements asking the Bush Administration for action on the issue.

Holzmann said the empathy shown cut across party lines. "It's about jobs, not ideologies."