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The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is warning that a proposed bill in the Senate will be bad for U.S. consumers.

According to the CEA, legislation proposed by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) (SCHUMER-GRAHAM BILL, S.295) seeks to address China's currency policy by imposing a 27.5 percent tariff on imports from China. But this approach is essentially a tax on American consumers and businesses since, the CEA says, the cost of the tariff would likely be passed on to those who purchase Chinese imports. (That means you, me, and about 300 million other red-blooded Americans.)

The CEA calculates that the average price of a flat-panel TV would increase from today's $1,295 to a painful $1,651. Lesser priced gear would also be affected. An average $281 MP3 player would jump to $277, and the average digital camera costing $299 today would have it's store shelf price tag rewritten to $381.

The CEA says China is a good friend to all because:

• The U.S. Commercial Service estimates that China accounts for 26 percent of global demand for electronics components.
• China, in particular, and global production more generally, is an integral part of the industry's strategy to be competitive, enabling it to develop new products quickly at affordable prices, as well as devote scarce financial resources to what the industry does best: research and development, design, marketing, software development and production.
• A competitive and R&D-intensive CE industry supports high wage and high skilled jobs in the U.S.

Of course, we could all voluntarily stop buying products from China until it cleans up its act, but then we'd be forced to listen to live music, see a play, or simply talk to one another at the dinner table.