Taking it to the hill.

AS a scholar of the English language, I have noticed that certain words carry more emotional weight than others do. "Free" is one of those words that trip a wire in the human brain. Buy one, get one free. Free Mandela. The land of the free.

Americans in particular have a soft spot in our hearts when it comes to anything free. We believe in being free--it's in out history, out blood. We're taught in school that freedom is great, and the U.S. is great because of its freedom. Free is almost always a positive thing, which is why bills containing the word in their titles usually sail through Congress.

Free trade can and should be a good thing. So when is free trade a bad thing? When the trading partners are not playing by the same rules. The U.S. is quickly learning that free trade isn't necessarily fair trade.

This is the situation the U.S. finds itself in with China. More than three years after winning acceptance into the World Trade Organization, China continues to violate WTO regulations. China manipulates its currency in direct violation of WTO regulations, but neither the Bush administration nor members of Congress seem willing to do anything but talk tough. Our government is essentially telling the U.S. manufacturing community, "You're bringing a knife to a gunfight. Get over it."

Don't expect the WTO to step up to the plate.

That's where IPC's Capitol Hill Day comes in. This event, to be held May 18 in Washington, D.C., offers the chance to meet with your representatives in Congress and let them know that you're holding them accountable for enforcing international trade regulations. This year the focus is on convincing government officials hot to ink any more trade agreements until we enforce the existing ones. What's the point of enacting further trade agreements if we're hot willing to enforce the ones already on the books?

Part of the confusion no doubt sterns from age-old differences between our countries. China was a closed society until the fairly recent past--remember the shock waves caused by Nixon's visit to China?--and the country's government still micromanages its economy. The leaders want China to lead the world in manufacturing, among other things.

So China pegs its currency to the dollar and keeps it undervalued. John Kania, IPC's director of government relations, estimates that the yuan is undervalued anywhere from 2040% below the greenback. Currency-pegging is a simple, shrewd practice that some small countries engage in. But it gives Chinese PCB manufacturers a huge advantage over American board shops. They can sell $10,000 worth of boards for $8,000 and still make a profit.

And currency-pegging requires China to buy ever-increasing amounts of U.S. government-issued debt, which could give China a dangerous influence over the U.S. economy. You'd think that alone would worry out elected officials.

There is a procedure for dealing with this issue. The Treasury Department is required to issue semi-annual reports identifying countries that are engaged in currency manipulation to the detriment of the U.S. economy. Treasury must then begin negotiating with the countries in question to put a stop to it.

But the Bush administration has refused to force the issue, even rejecting last fall a petition--filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974--that would have imposed trade sanctions on China unless that nation revalued the yuan. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick denied the petition the day it was filed, which must be a record for government responsiveness.

As a co-sponsor of Capitol Hill Day, we at UP Media Group are in total agreement with IPC on this issue, and with other industry trade publications that are supporting the event.

Go to Washington on May 18 and tell out elected officials that they must enforce existing trade agreements. Only then will free trade be fair trade.