(Image Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo)

President Obama today announced the creation of a new enforcement center to crack down on unfair trade practices in countries like China and around the world, as part of an effort to level the playing field for American workers.

"America has the best workers in the world. When the playing field is level, nobody will beat us. And we're going to make sure that playing field is level," the president said in a speech at the United Auto Workers convention.

The new unit will "bring the full resources of the federal government to bear on investigations … to counter any unfair trading practices around the world, including by countries like China," Obama said.

Earlier today, the president signed an executive order establishing the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center, which he first proposed in his State of the Union address last month.

According to the White House, the center will monitor and enforce U.S. rights under international trade rules and counter unfair subsidies that skew the global market against U.S. firms. The office will also institute a more aggressive "whole-of-government" approach by coordinating enforcement across several government agencies.