Romney latest to lob China criticism

Updated 9:50 a.m. ET

(CBS News) The battle over conceding jobs to China has reemerged again with the latest salvo coming in the form a new TV ad from Mitt Romney criticizing President Obama's China-related policy and its effect on U.S. workers.

"Fewer Americans are working today than when President Obama took office," the narrator says in the ad titled "Stand Up to China." "It doesn't have to be this way if Obama would stand up to China."

"China is stealing American ideas and technology. His policies cost us two million jobs," the narrator continues.

The Romney campaign highlights articles that report the Obama administration has yet to label China as a currency manipulator for undervaluing its yuan currency, which gives China manufacturers a cost advantage in the worldwide market. It's an action that Romney has vowed to do should he win election.

Romney plans to take this message to the campaign trail, specifically when he and his running mate Paul Ryan begin a bus tour in Ohio Tuesday where they are expected to talk about preventing the Chinese from stealing intellectual property.

President Obama renewed his attacks against Romney over China with his own television ad last week that charged Romney with outsourcing jobs there during his tenure at Bain Capital. In addition, the president talked tough against China in Ohio last week when he announced a new trade complaint against China over auto manufacturing parts.

The Obama campaign fired back against Romney's latest ad, pointing to articles that say Romney has maintained investments in companies until last year in Chinese companies, including the Chinese version of You Tube which viewers can find illegal American-made content.

Republican political strategist Trey Hardin said that the campaigns bring up China because it brings up "the most influential" emotion motivating voters: fear.

"It is not clear that most voters truly understand the economic significance of China but playing the fear card doesn't necessarily require that tutorial by either campaign," Hardin told CBSNews.com.

[vkmo]

Romney's campaign buttons are made in communist red china!! What a genius Romney is -- to make this manipulator- china, governed by successors of Mao-Dze-Dung -- RICH!!

[Paul_I]

Smart move, Mitt. The US should definitely anger China and also adopt protectionist policies. China can dump a fraction of the US debt they hold and send our interest rates skyrocketing. The protectionist policies would then isolate our economy and we could watch our manufacturing implode. Net, net, we can pay more for everything and lose more jobs at the same time.

[inbethlehem]

What is Romney thinking? Throw another noodle against the wall to see if it sticks? This is what a campaign in disarray and freefall does.

[RollotheNorman]

Absolutely. I think this campaign shows all the marks of being run by a control-freak and early onset Alzheimer's victim.

[sjc_1]

Alzheimer's is a possibility. They talked about his heart rate and Lipitor, but no one gave him any tests for that.

[sjc_1]

You have no credibility on this issue when you spent years at Bain sending jobs there. Some think our country will do well with the aggregate greed of many companies. This has been shown to be completely false, but some still cling to this absurd notion.

[dj_chi]

Funny - Willard complaining about China taking our jobs when he actively invested in companies who sent jobs there. Even one whose business plan was sending other companies' manufacturing jobs there.

How many millions did you earn off of offshoring, Willard? While complaining about the offshoring problem hurting America? Well the solution's easy - don't vote for the guy who fed the problem!! And don't vote for GOP Congressmen who protect tax incentives to encourage offshoring jobs. The incentives that the GOP wrote!!

[twodm]

The Republicans are in the curious position of having to convince the country that it is in terrible shape, but it is not their fault. In fact, even though all the economic indicators are improving, Mitt has to argue that he could somehow do better, even though he would adopt the same terrible policies that W. did, which got us into this mess to begin with. But the Republicans can suspend belief on Taxes, Terrorism, Global Warming, Evolution, and a lot of other issues. So they are practiced in fairy tales, and some of them will believe it, but not enough to get Mitt elected.