Obama Praises UAW as South Carolina Becomes Number One Auto Exporting State

At his speech to the UAW Obama said;

Thanks to the bipartisan trade agreements I signed into law with you in mind, there will soon be new cars on the streets of South Korea imported from Detroit. And Toledo. And Chicago. And today, I’m creating a Trade Enforcement Unit that will bring the full resources of the federal government to bear to investigate and counter unfair trade practices around the world, including by countries like China. American workers are the best workers on Earth, and when the playing field is level, I promise you – America will always win.

Just to set the record straight neither Michigan nor Ohio nor Illinois rank as the top auto exporting state. That honor goes to the state that Obama's NLRB has spent a good share of its time trying to de-industrialize, South Carolina. That state's web site reported that it had exported $24.6 billion worth of autos to 198 countries. Which country bought the most BMW's? That would be Germany, the home of BMW. Gee and they did all this without a Trade Enforcement Unit which one has to assume will be a servile adjunct to the UAW.

Automobile exports from South Carolina jumped 52 percent in 2011, surpassing Michigan for the No. 1 spot among automobile exporters. South Carolina previously ranked first in auto exports in 2009, based on the export of BMW automobiles from the German automaker’s Upstate manufacturing plant. The state also ranked first among U.S. states in tire exports, holding nearly 30 percent of the share of U.S.-made exported tires. Michelin and Bridgestone have been stalwart manufacturers in the state for years and soon Continental will build a new plant in Sumter County.