Editing Rob Portman (section)

====Hong Kong and trade suit====
[[Image:President Bush Nominates Rob Portman as OMB Director and Susan Schwab for USTR.jpg|thumb|right|Portman nominated for OMB Director and [[Susan Schwab|Schwab]] nominated for USTR, 2006]]
{{see also|World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005}}
As United States Trade Representative, Portman attended the WTO's [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005|Hong Kong conference]] in 2005. He addressed the conference with a speech on development in [[Doha]], and advocated a 60% cut in targeted worldwide [[Agricultural subsidy|agricultural subsidies]] by 2010.<ref>Maidment, Paul. [https://www.forbes.com/2005/10/11/wto-farming-subsidies-cx_pm_1011wto.html Rob Portman, Take A Bow.] ''[[Forbes]].'' October 11, 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/2619.pdf|title=WTO Doha Round: Agricultural Negotiating Proposals|work=CRS Report for Congress|number=RL33144}}</ref> Portman then sponsored a claim against China for extra charges it levied on American auto parts. U.S. steel manufacturers subsequently beseeched the White House to halt an influx of Chinese steel pipe used to make plumbing and fence materials. This was a recurring complaint and the [[United States International Trade Commission]] recommended imposing import quotas, noting "the economic threat to the domestic pipe industry from the Chinese surge." With Portman as his top trade advisor, Bush replied that quotas were in the U.S. economic interest. He reasoned the American homebuilding industry used the pipe and wanted to maintain a cheap supply and that other cheap exporters would step in to fill China's void if Chinese exports were curtailed. This occurred at a time when the U.S. steel industry lost $150 million in profit between 2005 and 2007, although China's minister of commerce cited the U.S. industry's "record high profit margins" in the first half of 2004 and continued growth in 2005. China next lobbied Portman to leave matters alone, meeting with his office twice and threatening in a letter that restrictions and what it called "discrimination against Chinese products" would bring "serious adverse impact" to the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship.<ref>{{cite news|last=Koff|title=Rob Portman's {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|exeperience}} as trade representative viewed as strength and weakness|first=Stephen|url=http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/08/rob_portmans_exeperience_as_tr.html|newspaper=The Cleveland Plain Dealer|date=August 11, 2012|access-date=April 2, 2013}}</ref> Portman vowed to "hold [China's] feet to the fire" and provide a "top-to-bottom review" of the U.S.–China trade relationship.<ref name="enquir">{{cite news|newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer|date=June 22, 2012|url=http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120624/NEWS010607/306250011/Portman-s-time-Bush-White-House-double-edged-sword|title=Portman's time in Bush White House a double-edged sword|access-date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819112243/http://www.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120624/NEWS010607/306250011/Portman-s-time-Bush-White-House-double-edged-sword|archive-date=August 19, 2014}}</ref> His claim that China had improperly favored domestic auto parts became the first successful trade suit against China in the WTO.<ref name="enquir" /> During Portman's tenure as trade ambassador, the U.S. trade deficit with China increased by 21 percent.<ref name="enquir" />