Myth: NAFTA was a failure for the U.S.

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ^ | November 2003 | press release

[1rudeboy]

•NAFTA has been a huge success for the U.S. and its NAFTA partners. It has helped Americans work smarter, earn more and increase purchasing power. It has contributed to more trade, higher productivity, better jobs, and higher wages.

•In ten years of NAFTA, total trade among the three countries has more than doubled, from $306 billion to $621 billion in 2003. That’s $1.7 billion in trade every day.

•U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico grew from $142 billion to $263 billion in NAFTA’s first ten years. And Mexican exports to the U.S. grew 242 percent, improving lives and reducing poverty in Mexico.

•Some claimed NAFTA would contribute to U.S. industrial decline and a “giant sucking sound.” But after NAFTA was passed in 1993:

--U.S. manufacturing output soared in the 1990s, up 44% in real terms.
--U.S. employment grew over 20 million between 1993 and 2000.
--U.S. manufacturing wages increased dramatically, with real hourly compensation up by 14.4% in the 10 years since NAFTA, more than double the 6.5% increase in the 10 years preceding NAFTA.
--Income gains and tax cuts from NAFTA were worth up to $930 each year for the average U.S. household of four.

•More recent problems for manufacturers and their employees came long after NAFTA. These problems are due to a recent recession from which the U.S. is now recovering strongly. Much is blamed on imports, but in fact 80% of the increase in the U.S. manufactures trade deficit in the last three years is attributable to reduced exports and weak demand overseas, not increased imports.

•Some blame NAFTA for recent economic problems. But in fact, during the recent U.S. economic downturn, U.S. imports from Mexico were up less than 2 percent (last three years). By contrast, the U.S. economy added more than 20 million jobs during a time when imports from Mexico were booming in 1993-2000 (up 241 percent).

•Clearly U.S. employment trends reflect the health of the U.S. economy far more than the negotiation of trade agreements like NAFTA.

[1rudeboy]

To paraphrase another member here, sometimes it's good to give the hornet's nest a good whack.

[MrFreedom]

Medicare Plan Includes $1B for Immigrants
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1028452/posts?page=2

[Finalapproach29er]

Green Onion Hepetitis: Mexico (export)

Thanks NAFTA!

[Poohbah]

Don asbestos, dude!

BTW, we're doomed.

[1rudeboy]

OK, so the first two people to respond didn't bother to read the post. Anyone else? One nickel goes to the first person to mention China.

[Willie Green]

Related thread: FACTLINE: President's Council of Economic Fiction

[1rudeboy]

And the nickel goes to you.

[Willie Green]

One nickel goes to the first person to mention China.

Is that the current hourly wage that's being offered in the global market now?

[ex-snook]

"By contrast, the U.S. economy added more than 20 million jobs during a time when imports from Mexico were booming in 1993-2000 (up 241 percent). "

If the job loss wasn't NAFTA's fault then it was Bush's. Seems this suggests we have to get rid of Bush if jobs are to increase but there is still 12 months for the elimination of dividend taxes to kick in and create jobs.

[1rudeboy]

No, it's simply a handout. You beg for it all the time.

[joesnuffy]

In order for a dem to claim the credit for a burgeoning economy...the dems administration has to follow a prez named...
Ronald Reagan
Then the dem can coast for 8 yrs and get the media to pat Him or Her or It on the back
and give them the credit..
RR dug us out of the hole that that goofyazz-grinning peanut farmer burried us in...

[Willie Green]

When I actually get it, I'll give you a receipt so you can deduct it from your income tax.

[1rudeboy]

You would have to be a charitable organization, and I would have to itemize for TY 2003. But thanks.

[the ghost of things future]

NAFTA has been a huge success for the U.S. and its NAFTA partners

Uh huh. Explain that to the areas in the US which FORMERLY were boosted by textile manufacturing.

[1rudeboy]

Where? New England?

[ex-snook]

"Then the dem can coast for 8 yrs and get the media to pat Him or Her or It on the back and give them the credit.. "

Didn't take the Bush economic team too long to screw up Reagan's heritage. If NAFTA did not cost Americans 3 million jobs, then Bush's other policies did. His dividend tax cut has to kick in real soon. We need another America first conservative like Reagan.

[the ghost of things future]

North Carolina, for one place.

[1rudeboy]

But I thought N. Carolina "stole" those jobs from New York. There is considerable danger in believing this is all a zero-sum game.

[general_re]

Didja ever notice that the handout-game is always a one-way street? The textile folks want something from me, but do I get a free shirt from them every now and then? Oh, nooooooooo.

Don't I work hard? Don't I pay taxes? Don't I contribute to the economy? So how come they never give me some freebies, like they're demanding from everyone else? Where's my handout from them?

[Gunslingr3]

There is considerable danger in believing this is all a zero-sum game.

But! But! But, the job market isn't a reflection of wealth and how people are able and willing to apply that wealth to accomplish work they want done - it's a game of musical chairs, and someone has shipped the chairs to China or somefink!