Yessir. No matter what he says "on the stump," the guy is making out like a bandit with his China investments.
The tale of Asimco Technologies, an auto parts manufacturer whose plants dot eastern China, would seem to underscore Mitt Romney’s campaign-trail complaint that China’s manufacturing juggernaut is costing America jobs.
Nine years ago, the company bought two camshaft factories that employed about 500 people in Michigan. By 2007 both were shut down. Now Asimco manufactures the same components in China on government-donated land in a coastal region that China has designated an export base, where companies are eligible for the sort of subsidies Mr. Romney says create an unfair trade imbalance. ...NYT
But Romney continues to benefit personally from this unfair trade imbalance. The move to China that cost 500 jobs here in the US adds a nice chunk of investment return to the Romney bottom line. Romney has "as much as $2.25 million invested in three Bain funds with large stakes in Asimco and at least seven other Chinese businesses, according to his 2012 candidate financial disclosure and other documents."
Romney has protested several times that his investments are in blind trust, leaving him in a nice, clear position of "not knowing." The Times points out that "should Mr. Romney become president, however, the structure of the trust would most likely not meet the federal requirements for independent management."
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