US business leaders lashed out at legislation that would penalize companies for employing illegal immigrants. Presenting its outlook for 2006, the US Chamber of Commerce also expressed optimism for the growth prospects of the world's biggest economy, while renewing demands on China to get tough on copyright theft.
Chamber officials had an angry response to an immigration bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month that, among a raft of tough measures, imposes heavy fines on companies found employing illegal workers.
"This is a bill that's going to drag them (illegals) deeper into the shadows," said the powerful business federation's vice president, Bruce Josten.
Chamber president Tom Donohue stressed the United States was a nation built on immigration, and added: "The argument that US companies want cheap labor is crappy."
The House bill, which has yet to be passed by the Senate, also deprived President George W. Bush of his proposed "guest worker" programme, a scheme backed by US businesses that would allow certain illegal immigrants to formalize their status.
Millions of US employers would be required to contact a verification system by telephone or through the Internet to ensure that a job applicant's Social Security number matches with one on file in the databank.
The number of illegal immigrants in the United States is estimated conservatively at between eight million and 12 million.
A recent study by the Congressional Budget Office found that one worker in seven in the United States had immigrated, with more than 70 percent of them coming from Mexico and Central America.
Turning to the US economy, the Chamber of Commerce officials predicted solid growth of between 3.5 and 3.7 percent for the first half of 2006, and about 3.5 percent for the whole year.
"Overall we are optimistic about the prospects for the economy, ... yet in some important respects, 2006 could be a more difficult year for companies and the business agenda," Donohue said.
The Chamber expects the Federal Reserve will take the benchmark US interest rate up to 5.0 percent, from 4.25 percent now, before pausing on a campaign of hikes that began in June 2004.
The US property market, whose stellar growth has powered consumer spending in recent years, will slacken in 2006 but not crash, the group said.
On China, Donohue called for the US government to be "very aggressive" about intellectual property rights and encouraged Beijing to open up its currency regime more.
Over the longer term, he said, communist China must find a way of marrying its political structures to its rapid-fire economic liberalisation.
"My main worry is how do they, as a country, sustain their form of government with this explosive economic growth," he said.
