In the face of high unemployment and pressure to respond more forcefully to trade violations by nations such as China, President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced the creation of a new trade enforcement office.

In a speech to a United Auto Workers convention in Washington, Obama said the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center would bring “the full resources of the federal government to bear” to level the playing field for U.S. workers.

The White House said the goal of the office is “robust monitoring and enforcement of U.S. rights under international trade agreements, and enforcement of domestic trade laws.”

The new office will coordinate enforcement activity across several U.S. government agencies. Local companies hit by trade issues include Appleton Papers, Hayes Lemmerz, and Magnode Corp.

GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney has assailed Obama for ineffectual responses to aggressive and questionable Chinese trade practices. Ohio has lost 3,500 factories in a decade, federal records show, a loss accounting for 369,097 jobs.

Dayton City Commissioner Nan Whaley, head of a region-wide manufacturing task force, welcomed the announcement.

“Obviously, this is a step in the right direction,” she said, adding that a pending anti-currency manipulation bill should be passed by Congress. “It would have some huge effects for us,” she said.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown has called on the House to pass legislation allowing penalties on currency-manipulating nations, citing a study that the trade deficit with China cost the U.S. more than 2.8 million jobs since 2001, including more than 1.9 million manufacturing jobs. Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman also supported a successful currency-manipulation Senate bill that passed last year.

Although a similar bill in the House has a majority 230 co-sponsors, including Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., has not allowed a vote because he said it could provoke a trade war.

In 2011, the U.S. trade deficit with China rose to a record $295.5 billion.