The U.S. Commerce Department announced today that our trade deficit reached $497 billion last year, including a new record $273 billion deficit with China.

Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Executive Director Scott Paul said a record trade deficit with China “does not put us on a path to win the future.”

It will be hard to get our unemployment rate down if our trade deficit keeps going up. And while I am all in favor of doubling exports, it is a meaningless benchmark unless we also bring down our trade deficit.  Instead, our global trade deficit is growing at an alarming and unsustainable rate.

One way to reduce the trade deficit is to pass the bipartisan Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011, introduced yesterday. It is the same legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last September by a 348-79 margin. Read our post on the currency legislation here.