Scott Paul
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Scott N. Paul is the founding Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), which was launched in April 2007. AAM is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership established by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers to explore common solutions to challenging public policy topics such as job creation, infrastructure investment, international trade, and global competitiveness.

Prior to forming the Alliance, Mr. Paul was the principal lobbyist for the Industrial Union Council and was a trade lobbyist at the AFL-CIO, where he led the labor movement’s legislative initiatives on international trade, manufacturing, and foreign policy issues.

Mr. Paul’s Capitol Hill experience extended from 1987 to 2001. He served as a staff member to the late Rep. Jim Jontz (D-IN) and former Rep. Peter Barca (D-WI), and as the chief foreign policy and trade advisor to then-House Democratic Whip David E. Bonior (D-MI).

Mr. Paul earned a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. with honors in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Blog Entries by Scott Paul

The China Syndrome

(6) Comments | Posted May 4, 2012 | 5:18 PM

Ten years after the United States officially ended its yearly review of China's trade status, no one can credibly argue that China is any freer or more attentive to human rights, nor can they claim the United States is better off economically as a result of our bilateral trade and...

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Professor Romer Needs Manufacturing 101

(10) Comments | Posted February 9, 2012 | 3:13 PM

Christina D. Romer, the former chairwoman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, took U.S. manufacturing to task recently in a New York Times op-ed.  Headlined "Do Manufacturers Need Special Treatment?" Romer suggests that support for manufacturing needs to "go beyond the feeling that it's better...

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"Made in America" and the State of the Union

(227) Comments | Posted January 20, 2012 | 4:25 PM

If you want to win a bet next Tuesday, wager your friends that President Obama will say "Made in America" in the State of the Union address. It's the closest you'll ever get to a sure thing.

"Made in America" is a wildly popular notion across...

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OUT: Outsourcing. IN: Insourcing.

(25) Comments | Posted January 12, 2012 | 8:31 AM

Insourcing. That's at the top of my trending list for 2012. But, how do we make reshoring--bringing jobs back from overseas--real? For America to have a thriving economy and lower unemployment, we need to create more good-paying jobs. And to do that, we'll have to win back some of...

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It's the Economy, Stupid: Version 2011

(4) Comments | Posted May 4, 2011 | 3:55 PM

Within a week, as the news and analysis of Osama bin Laden's demise fades, the American people will focus once again on the issues that matter most to their daily lives. For most Americans, that includes the jobs market and the state of our economy.

But no one is...

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The Wrong Deficit

(16) Comments | Posted April 13, 2011 | 10:11 AM

Deficit fever has swept through our capital, and President Obama has finally caught it. However, his speech is focusing on the wrong deficit. And that's because, quite sadly, our political culture is obsessed with the wrong deficit. Yes, the American people want to put our government's fiscal house in order....

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We're Number Two: Why America Is Losing its Lead in Manufacturing and How We Can Get it Back

(3) Comments | Posted March 16, 2011 | 4:22 PM

When IHS Global Insight revealed this week that China has passed the United States to lead the world in manufacturing output, the response from some in government and manufacturing was to quibble with the data. The correct response is to develop a national manufacturing strategy, so...

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If Gary Locke Goes To China...

(6) Comments | Posted March 9, 2011 | 9:27 AM

Our new man in China, Gary Locke, will have a big, bilateral economic mess to help clean up. The United States posted a record $273 billion trade deficit with China last year. China continues to slow-walk the Yuan's appreciation against the dollar. And, China shows few...

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Should GE's Jeffrey Immelt Really Be Leading Our Job Creation Strategy?

(151) Comments | Posted January 21, 2011 | 9:33 AM

There is no swifter way to alienate working class voters than to name an outsourcing CEO to lead your jobs strategy. Yet that's exactly what President Obama is doing.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt has fooled the media and the White House into believing that he cares about American manufacturing...

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Changing Our Dysfunctional Relationship With China

(6) Comments | Posted January 19, 2011 | 2:00 PM

With Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit, it is a good time to reflect on how the dysfunctional U.S.-China relationship has developed, and to consider why it may be time for a trial separation. For nearly 40 years, the U.S. and China seem to have modeled their partnership on Sid...

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The State of the Union Is Uneasy

(7) Comments | Posted January 13, 2011 | 7:39 PM

President Obama delivered just the right speech in Tucson. Can he replicate that performance for his State of the Union address on Jan. 25? For the sake of our nation's economic well-being, he must.

Just as our national psyche needed some healing this week, our nation's hopes and dreams...

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Make Your Holiday Shopping Red, White and Blue

(13) Comments | Posted November 24, 2010 | 9:29 AM

Too many American are unemployed. But Congress is not likely to act in any meaningful way to boost the economy. The Federal Reserve is trying quantitative easing, but that may not be a panacea.

That's why it is time to take matters into your own hands... and your wallets....

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Obama Acts to Investigate U.S. - China Trade Absurdity

(26) Comments | Posted October 16, 2010 | 3:49 PM

All praise from here for President Obama's courageous decision Friday to proceed with an investigation of China's opportunistic and illegal trade practices in the clean energy sector. Those of us dedicated to supporting U.S. workers, U.S. jobs and U.S. manufacturing owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.

The Administration...

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What Would Reagan Do? He'd Stand Up to China

(49) Comments | Posted October 1, 2010 | 1:45 PM

The House of Representatives has passed a bill aimed at curbing China's ongoing currency manipulation. Some critics argue that this legislation to address China's continued undervaluation would be "protectionist," but this makes no sense. If someone cheats in a game, you call them on it. You...

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The Week Congress Began to Challenge China

(4) Comments | Posted September 20, 2010 | 1:06 PM

What a difference a week makes. Just last week, the Beijing government and outsourcers thought they could run out the clock and avoid a long overdue legislative reckoning on China's currency manipulation, which serves as a drag on global growth, a siphon for American jobs and wealth, and...

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Appeasing China on Currency Will Doom Our Economy

(31) Comments | Posted September 15, 2010 | 2:33 PM

Congress may be poised to pass legislation to penalize China unless its government stops manipulating its exchange rate and plays by the agreed-upon rules of international trade. This currency manipulation -- which makes U.S. exports more expensive in China and Chinese imports artificially cheaper in our stores --...

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Trade Enforcement Works. Thank You, Mr. President

(88) Comments | Posted September 1, 2010 | 4:47 PM

Nearly one year ago, President Obama invoked a trade law known as "421" for the first and only time in the decade the law has been in effect and imposed tariffs on some automobile tire imports from China, which have been surging into the United States from 2004...

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The Onshoring Trend Is Phony

(17) Comments | Posted August 20, 2010 | 1:33 PM

On Friday August 6th, no less an authority than the president himself heralded a USA Today front page story headlined: "Some manufacturing heads back to USA." I watched CNBC that morning -- the July unemployment figures were just out -- and its anchors also trumpeted the news. So...

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Killer Trade Deficits. Literally.

(20) Comments | Posted August 18, 2010 | 11:03 AM

Our nation is so far off course economically that we'll need more than a map to find our way back. We'll need courage, vision, and a real change of course--three things found in only trace amounts in Washington today. Two things I've read recently really crystallized the challenges we face....

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Made in America

(12) Comments | Posted July 20, 2010 | 12:11 PM

Made in America seems to be all the rage in the Capitol right now. Rahm Emanuel promised us that we'd be hearing a lot more from the White House about this over the next few weeks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi previewed the House Democrats' "Make it...

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