The facts are clear: While Mitt Romney’s shifting stances on China show he will say whatever he can to score cheap political points, President Obama has a proven record of standing up to China and safeguarding American jobs.
Unsurprisingly, that isn’t stopping Romney from continuing to falsely claim that President Obama has failed to stand up to China’s unfair trade practices. But Romney’s attacks aren’t just false; they’re hypocritical. As the Boston Globe revealed, Romney has actually invested in Chinese manufacturing companies that use the same unfair trade practices he is falsely accusing President Obama of failing to combat:
“When Romney was in charge of Bain Capital, for example, the firm invested millions in a company that manufactured household appliances using cheaper labor in Dongguan, China…
“Romney also has between $500,000 and $1 million invested in a Bain Capital fund that has been used to purchase shares of GOME, a Chinese electronics company, according to the financial disclosure form Romney filed in June. That company—in which Bain has been one of the largest outside shareholders—is being sued by Microsoft Corp. for selling computers with pirated versions of its Windows and Office software…
“When Romney was at Bain, the firm also invested in a Chinese company called Global Tech Appliances Inc., which manufactured washing machines and other products at Chinese factories to export to US consumers…
“A French appliance manufacturer called SEB successfully sued Global Tech in the United States for copying its patented deep-fat fryers, winning $2.65 million in a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010.”
Ben LaBolt, the National Press Secretary for the Obama campaign, issued the following statement in response to Romney’s false, hypocritical attacks:
“As Mitt Romney tries to convince Americans he is a modern day trade warrior, it’s clear that his hypocrisy knows no bounds. Before Mitt Romney started claiming he’d stand up to China and its unfair trade practices, he was profiting off of them. Governor Romney even maintained his investment in a Chinese manufacturing company that relied on outsourcing American jobs after seeing its poor work conditions, which he described as surrounded by barbed wire and packed with 12 women per dormitory room. When our competitors started a global race to the bottom, rather than placing a premium on creating American jobs and lifting the middle class, Mitt Romney dove in head first.”