WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, accusing China of a host of trade violations, announced Monday creation of a new Unfair Trade Practices Team inside the Commerce Department (news - web sites) to address trade barriers that are costing American jobs.
In addition to the new team, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans said he was creating two new posts at the Commerce Department — an assistant secretary for trade promotion and an assistant secretary for manufacturing who will oversee a new Office of Industry Analysis, which will track the impact of government regulations on American businesses.
All the moves are part of an effort by the administration to show concern for the steady erosion in the manufacturing sector of the economy, which has suffered 37 consecutive months of job losses starting before the recession began in March 2001 and lasting long after it was officially over in November of 2001. Since July 2000, manufacturing companies have lost 2.7 million jobs.
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