Treasury chief boosts policy on banks bailout, China trade
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner promised Wednesday to help make "our economy work for Main Street again," backing a plan to make failing financial institutions pay for their government-engineered rescue and saying the White House will insist on a level playing field in relations with China.
Mr. Geithner toured Allegheny Technologies' Washington, Pa., plate mill before meeting at United Steelworkers headquarters Downtown with USW President Leo Gerard, U.S. Steel President John P. Surma, Allegheny Technologies Chairman and CEO L. Patrick Hassey and other local business leaders.
"It's good to be here in a part of the country that still makes things," Mr. Geithner said at a late-afternoon news conference.
In prepared remarks delivered before fielding questions, Mr. Geithner said the economy is gradually, but definitely getting stronger.
"Manufacturing is coming back. Exports are growing. And productivity growth is very high, which means companies are more competitive, but also that they are going to have to start to add jobs," he said.
His visit coincides with growing calls from steelmakers, steelworkers and other sectors of industry for tougher actions against China. Critics contend the fast-growing Asian giant unfairly subsidizes exports and manipulates its currency at the expense of American industry and jobs. Mr. Geithner said China must rely on its own consumers to grow its economy, not on Americans who take on take on debt to purchase imports.
With Mr. Gerard, Mr. Surma and Mr. Hassey at his side, Mr. Geithner promised to fight for a level playing field in trade relations with China. He said he believes China will see that reforming its currency is in its best interest.
As for the rescue of financial institutions, Mr. Geithner said the Obama administration wants to impose risk-based fees on the large ones. That will result in those that caused the problems and benefited the most from the massive federal rescue paying for its costs, he said. The proposal would raise an estimated $90 billion in fees over 10 years compared with the current estimated $100 billion price tag of the rescue.
Mr. Geithner said the administration also is asking Congress for up to $250 billion in new stimulus for infrastructure projects, revenue-strapped state and local governments and other sectors of the economy.
"We're not out of this yet. We've got work to do," he said.
The Pittsburgh CEOs who met with Mr. Geithner before the news conference also included Federated Investors' J. Christopher Donahue, Consol Energy's J. Brett Harvey, RTI International Metals' Dawne S. Hickton, EQT's Murry S. Gerber and Medrad's John Friel.
First Published April 1, 2010 12:00 am
