US Trade Envoy Defends Bill To Curb Outsourcing Of Jobs

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- Defending a recent U.S. Senate bill to stem the outsourcing of jobs overseas, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick Monday said India must open its markets further if it wants Washington to do the same.

"If India wants to have the ability to outsource and sell goods to the U.S., India will also have to open up," Zoellick said at a press briefing.

Zoellick's visit to New Delhi is part of his global tour to get countries back on the World Trade Organization (news - web sites)'s negotiating table for freer trade.

Indian industry and government officials view a bill passed by the U.S. Senate in January that prohibits government contractors from subcontracting work to overseas companies as being protectionist.

The bill has raised fears that it could lead to more of such protectionist measures.

Zoellick pointed out that India's average tariffs are three times higher than the U.S., which runs a $9 billion trade deficit with New Delhi.

"It reflects the sensitivity of the issue and reflects the fact that we have to make trade a two-way street," he said. "If we are to have expansion of global trade in agriculture, services or industry, we must have it for all."

WTO talks on freer trade have been in disarray since negotiations broke down in September. Developing nations, led by India and Brazil, have been pressing rich countries to stop giving billions of dollars in subsidies to their farmers, while the U.S. and E.U. want developing countries to cut tariffs, especially in the farm sector.

Outsourcing of jobs could potentially become another hurdle in advancing trade talks.

Earlier Monday, India's Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said concerns over the U.S. bill could make it harder for the government in New Delhi to make concessions during any WTO talks.

"For the WTO talks as a whole, an adverse environment has been created in this country since an erstwhile open market is now being closed," Jaitley told reporters after meeting Zoellick.

"I don't see a change coming up no matter who is in there. Any ideas?"

Only Pat Buchanan has dared to address the problem, but his sanity waves bye bye on Middle East policy. The problem, like so many others, is directly traceable to the overwhelming influence corporate money has on our representatives. Even when we send a person up who has enough of their own money they get overwhelmed (Bill Frist) or worn down (Fred Thompson) and become part of the problem, actively or passively.
This White House and Republican Congress destroyed the latest campaign finance reform initiative, illustrating the depth of this corruption. The general public does not perceive how it affects their daily lives and pocketbooks. Talking news heads don't help when they report on these matters punctuated with smirks.
No answers but the usual Freeping way: write, yell, inform, share news, keep watch and continue attempting to put the best people in office.
JustPiper's idea of holding these companies collective noses to the carpet like a bad puppy may have some effect, but I fear too many have already gone over to the "Dark Side" having convinced themselves that they must export many jobs to preserve those left here.
I try to do my part by checking labels on everything before making purchases, but too often I find the product I need no longer has an American analogue or is an amalgam of international parts.

Any ideas?

Yeah, sure.

from the Constitution Party's platform:

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations," and "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing" copyright and patent protection for authors and inventors.

Congress may not abdicate or transfer to others these Constitutional powers. We oppose, therefore, the unconstitutional transfer of authority over U.S. trade policy from Congress to agencies, domestic or foreign, which improperly exercise policy-setting functions with respect to U.S. trade policy, and the unconstitutional transfer of authority over copyright and patent policy from Congress to agencies, domestic and foreign.

We favor the abolition of the Office of Special Trade Representative, and insist on the withdrawal of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and all other agreements wherein bureaucracies, institutions or individuals, other than the Congress of the United States, improperly assume responsibility for establishing policies which directly affect the economic well-being of every American citizen. We also favor more vigorous efforts to protect the copyright and patent rights of their owners in both domestic and foreign markets.

As indicated in Article I, Section 8: duties, imposts, and excises are legitimate revenue-raising measures on which the United States government may properly rely. As Abraham Lincoln pointed out, the legitimate costs of the federal government can be borne either by taxes on American citizens and businesses or by tariffs on foreign companies and products. The latter is preferable to the former.

Similarly, we oppose all international trade agreements which have the effect of diminishing America's economic self-sufficiency and of exporting jobs, the loss of which will impoverish American families, undermine American communities, and diminish America's capacity for economic self-reliance.

We see our country and its workers as more than bargaining chips for multinational corporations and international banks in their ill-conceived and evil New World Order.

The defense of the American nation and the preservation of its economic integrity are essential to the defense of the liberty and prosperity of every American citizen.

We will insist on strict federal criminal penalties for any officer of the United States government, or spouse thereof, who subsequently hires himself or herself out to represent any foreign government or other entity, public or private, with respect to influencing either public opinion or public policy on matters affecting U.S. trade with any such governments or other entities.

The indebtedness of the American government has contributed dangerously to making our economy more vulnerable to foreign takeover and manipulation. Particularly in the area of national security, foreign interests have thus been abetted in gaining access to America's high-tech secrets under the guise of commercial enterprise. We propose that technology transfers which compromise national security be made illegal, and urge that all violators be prosecuted.

We reject the concept of Most Favored Nation status, especially insofar as it has been used to curry favor with regimes whose domestic and international policies are abhorrent to decent people everywhere, and are in fundamental conflict with the vital interests of the United States of America.

The United States government should establish the firm policy that U.S. or multinational businesses investing abroad do so at their own risk. There is no obligation by our Government to protect those businesses with the lives of our service personnel, or the taxes of our citizens.

Manufacturing jobs shipping out of Illinois

By Theresa Gutierrez
February 24, 2004 — Millions of jobs have been exported out of the U.S. in recent years. That's having a big impact on Chicago-area companies and businesses. ABC7's Theresa Gutierrez spoke to one worker who knows about the situation firsthand.

The National Manufacturers Association conference is at McCormick Place. Industry leaders say 2.8 million American manufacturing jobs have been lost since July of 2000.

42-year-old Gilbert Salinas lost his job at National Lamination after working there for 28 year. He says close to 150 people were let go.

"I'm starting to look for another job, but it's hard. It's hard when you don't have a high school diploma or G.E.D. Most of the guys that worked there don't have any education," Salinas said.

The family includes two daughters who are getting married and three others planning to go to parochial schools.

"Sometimes you just want to sit down and cry together and say, you know, why does this happen now," said Mrs. Salinas.

Salinas says work done at National Lamination will now be going to China for its low cost work force.

Tuesday in Chicago, U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans said he believes the loss of jobs encourages competition.

"Part of free trade is we continue to see that the world opens up," Secretary Evans said.

Outsourcing is becoming an American phenomenon, and how does the does the administration feel about it? "It is important to just stay focused on the fundamental principle of free but fair trade," Secretary Evans said.

Gilbert Salinas does not believe outsourcing is good for this country.

"Everybody is losing their jobs because of it. It's especially my job, I think moving to India or China somewhere," Salinas said.

He's concerned that most of the workers laid off don't have the proper skills to find new jobs.

And more than 156,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in Illinois between 1999 and last year.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/022404_ns_exporting_jobs.html

A.G. Edwards Outsources Tech Projects To Chicago Co >AGE

02-24-04 11:01 AM EST
ST. LOUIS (Dow Jones)--A.G. Edwards Inc. (AGE) agreed to outsource some of its information-technology projects to Kanbay Inc., resulting in the transfer of 100 employees to the Chicago IT services firm and the layoff of 38 workers.

Overall, the move will cut about 10% of the IT staff at the financial services company's St. Louis headquarters.

In a press release Tuesday, A.G. Edwards said privately held Kanbay will open an office in St. Louis to be staffed by the transferring employees.

A.G. Edwards' technology projects include moving to an application service provider for securities processing, streamlining data capabilities and updating systems used by branch offices.

A.G. Edwards, which has about 16,000 total employees, estimates severance costs will total $1 million to $2 million, depending on how many of the laid-off workers accept its offer.

A company spokeswoman said the charges will be incurred during the fiscal year ending Feb. 28, 2005.

A Thomson First Call survey of five analysts projects A.G. Edwards wil earn $ 163.8 million in fiscal 2005.

In fiscal 2003, the financial services holding company earned $118.8 million on revenue of $2.2 billion.

Company Web site: http://www.agedwards.com

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