For Obama, Romney, China still a major issue in Ohio

The economic setbacks in the U.S. and Europe are now beginning to seriously hinder the sales and profits of manufacturers in China. Celia Hatton reports from the industry-heavy city of Dongguan.

/ STR

(CBS News) As President Obama and Mitt Romney campaign in the crucial battleground state of Ohio Wednesday, both are attacking each other over China - a consistent theme for both as they traverse the important battleground state.

"[T]he President will talk about his record of holding China accountable so that American workers can compete globally while Mitt Romney has continued to profit from companies that ship jobs to China," an Obama campaign official told reporters, previewing the president's two afternoon campaign rallies in the Buckeye State.

Romney, meanwhile, also advanced his line of attack, saying Wednesday morning in Westerville, Ohio, "We're going to crack down on China.... They've stolen our jobs; that's gotta stop."

Vowing to label China a currency manipulator, Romney said, during another stop on his Ohio bus tour Tuesday, "We cannot compete with people who don't play fair and I won't let that go on." He added, "I will stop it in its tracks."

Romney and Mr. Obama have lobbed numerous attacks over China, each attempting to sound tougher than the other. Both campaigns have released TV ads targeting the issue and have taken the argument to the campaign trail in the state once reliant on the manufacturing sector, but forced to adapt to a declining number of factory jobs.

"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," Republican strategist Trey Hardin told CBSNews.com in a recent interview. "Therefore, both candidates incorporate China in their messaging by highlighting potentially scary economic confrontations with this rival nation."

The president's tactic is to charge Romney with buying and owning companies as head of Bain Capital that outsourced American jobs to lower-waged Chinese workers, even though fact-checkers have taken issue with some of the claims.

Romney says the president has had four years to get tough on China but has "let China cheat."

The Romney campaign is also criticizing the president's "protectionism," specifically pointing reporters to a Romney campaign policy memo that says the tariff Mr. Obama placed on Chinese tires in 2009 in an attempt to protect the declining American tire industry has increased costs to consumers. A Romney spokesperson says the action was "ineffective" and "had nothing to do with addressing China's unfair trace practices."

That tire tariff is set to expire Wednesday and the Obama campaign has not yet indicated whether the president would renew it. Obama campaign spokesperson Lis Smith did accuse Romney of straddling both sides of the issue.

"So after spending months trying to reinvent himself as a trade warrior, Mitt Romney is now attacking President Obama for standing up to China on behalf of American workers in the tire industry?" Smith wrote in a statement. "If he can't decide where he stands on China, how should he expect the American people to trust him to stand up to them?"

The president also highlights complaints he filed with the World Trade Organization, including one earlier this month which targets Chinese auto parts manufacturers.

A new Quinnipiac University/ CBS News/ NY Times poll released Wednesday shows Mr. Obama has expanded his lead there, with a 10-point advantage over his Republican rival among voters who say they are likely to vote. On the question of who would do a better job handling the economy, Mr. Obama leads Romney 51 percent to 45 percent in Ohio.

[djhiggins]

Because of the undeniable fact that the Obama administration failed to deal with longstanding foreign security concerns, we are getting another story every single day.
And, because of Obama's self-stated successes, Obama's administration has to do damage control on his administration's incompetent and bungled response to
repeated security threats in the region.
I am beyond disgusted and incredibly pissed that this level of outright dishonesty exists with the very people who are supposed to
expose lies and help us keep this an open honest government.

Obama sucks..Biden is a buffoon

[maripaul-2009]

China did not have to "steal" our jobs. Our own corporation due to greed closed the factories, the workers lost ther jobs, the corporations opened new plants in China and elsewhere. It is my understanding that Gov. Romney has some experience in that regard. These workers who built the factories had become our Middle Class, yet very little is said about these FACTS. In effect that was the beginning of our financial problems, which was followed by 2 wars, tax reduction for 10 years. No payments into social security, medicare and Taxes were made. And people are surprised that we have this mess which is greedy men made. They would would like to forget about these events and yet NOBODY talks about it. Citizens, REMEMBER.

[unsatisfied321]

Finally some people who actually understand that Obama lies out of both sides of his mouth. A talent no other American president has ever acquired.
Obama hasn't done a thing about China in four years but NOW for the second time, he says he will fix it?! Liberals buy this like its candy giving new meaning to the word "duped." I suppose you could say he didn't lie about change. He changed plenty--instead of cutting the debt in half like he promised he nearly doubled it (give him another four years and he'll triple it); he changed the view of the American nation in the world and instead of the promised peace and how the muslims would surely accept his word because he had lived among them, they kill our ambassadors and plan to light up Israel like a Roman candle. Yeah change, isn't it wonderful? More people out of work than in our history, more people upside down in their mortgages and their individual debt and more corruption in Washington. Really does a lot for us doesn't he? What a ruse! Worse yet is liberal buy into it, not once BUT TWICE. My dad told me a fool was born every minute. Apparently he was right. Liberals fall in line like mice for the pied piper. "Hope and Change." What a farce!

[maripaul-2009]

You should be a comedian!

[erasmus111]

"...while Mitt Romney has continued to profit from companies that ship jobs to China,"

I find it funny that Trump is backing Romney when he's dead set against all this bullcrap with China.

[wfw3536]

Why doesn't Obama tell folks about Obama GM Motors that created 14,000 new jobs in China in the last 3 years or spent over a billion dollars in China. Then we have Obama bragging about Apple the biggest outsourcer of jobs, or his good friend, the head of GE and Obama's jobs council head who was interview and bragged about how all the jobs he has created outside of the US. Then we have Obama who says and does nothing about China and how China holds there currency down so their prices are unfair. We all know why Obama is afraid of China as it is where we borrow a lot of the one trillion dollars we need each year under Obama's watch.

[retmw1]

That's beacuse china says if you want to sell it here build it here. Unlike the U.S. that opens it's doors to free and unequal trade for cheap labor.

[sjc_1]

Ohio is a manufacturing state, one in 8 jobs is automobile related, yet they vote Republican. Republicans voted down a measure eliminating deductions for expenses when off shoring jobs.