MSCI Supports Legislation Aimed at Currency Manipulators
– Urges Action on the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013-

Media Contacts: 

Jonathan Kalkwarf (847) 485-3007; cell (773) 835-6108

Ashley DeVecht (847) 485-3011; cell (616) 260-2785 

Rolling Meadows, Ill., June 6, 2013 – Yesterday, U.S. Senators introduced the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013, a bill aimed at reforming oversight of currency exchange rates.  The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI), a more than 100-year old trade organization representing almost 400 firms in the industrial metals industry, supports this legislation and urges the Senate to take action.
 
“This legislation is an important step in holding countries accountable for illegal trade practices,” said MSCI president and CEO Bob Weidner.  “For far too long, American-made goods have been disadvantaged in the global market because countries like China manipulate their currency to gain an unfair advantage.  The U.S. metal industry and its workers deserve to compete on a level playing field.”
 
MSCI has over a decade-long history of supporting legislation aimed at stopping currency manipulation by U.S. trading partners, including being a founding member of the China Currency Coalition.  This bill will provide important tools and mandates to the U.S. Treasury to “require Treasury to identify misaligned currencies and require action by the administration if countries fail to correct the misalignment.” (See summary.)

MSCI urges its members to contact their representatives in Washington and ask them to vote in favor of this important legislation, as well as similar legislation passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and reintroduced this session as The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2013 (H.R. 1276). To read the summary of the Senate bill, please go to summary. 
 
Founded in 1909, the Metals Service Center Institute, based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., has over 400 member companies operating from more than 1,500 locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and throughout the world. Together MSCI members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 55 million tons of steel, aluminum and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers. To date over $2.5 million in scholarships have been awarded through its chapters.
 
For more information, visit www.msci.org. “Like” us on Facebook at Metals Service Center Institute, follow us on Twitter @MSCITweets, and connect with us on LinkedIn at Metals Service Center Institute.