After losing 880,000 jobs to NAFTA, we're back for more

The Springfield News ^ | Jul 22, 2005 | Peter DeFazio

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

Proponents of so-called "free" trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which I opposed, have long promised endless riches for U.S. workers, farmers, businesses and economy. They've been wrong on all counts.

Failed U.S. trade policies have led to the export of millions of high-paying American jobs; decline in U.S. living standards; soaring trade deficits; and a significant erosion of U.S. sovereignty to international trade bureaucrats.

Despite this unbroken record of failure, the House is expected to vote before August on an agreement the Bush administration negotiated to expand NAFTA to Central America via the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The Senate has already voted to approve the deal. I will vote no. Here's why CAFTA must be defeated.

• CAFTA will increase the already record U.S. trade deficit. The U.S. trade deficit this year is running at an annual rate of approximately $700 billion, nearly $100 billion above the record deficit set last year. We must borrow nearly $2 billion every day from foreigners to finance this deficit. Prior to NAFTA, the U.S. had a trade surplus with Mexico. In the wake of NAFTA, the surplus turned to a deficit that has risen steadily. The U.S. already has a trade deficit with the Central American countries of $1.6 billion, which will only grow if CAFTA is enacted. Deficits are dangerous because they cost U.S. jobs and put our economic and national security in the hands of foreigners who finance them.

• CAFTA will lead to the export of U.S. jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce predicted NAFTA would create 170,000 jobs in the U.S. They were a little off. The actual result was a net loss of nearly 880,000 U.S. jobs, including more than 12,000 in Oregon. Looking at the numbers beyond NAFTA, Oregon has lost 40,000 jobs due to failed trade policies since 1994. CAFTA will be more of the same.

• CAFTA is not about exporting U.S. goods to Central America. More than 40 percent of workers in Central America make less than $2 a day. The combined economic might of the five Central American countries is only $151 billion, about what the U.S. economy produces in five days. Even if every penny of these countries' economies was devoted to buying U.S. goods, which isn't going to happen, the impact would be insignificant in the $11 trillion U.S. economy. The bottom line is that CAFTA is not about creating U.S. jobs and exporting U.S. goods. It is about creating a favorable climate for multinational corporations to export U.S. jobs and use Central America to export goods back into the U.S.

• CAFTA will erode U.S. sovereignty. CAFTA allows foreign corporations to sue our government for approving laws and regulations that may impede their ability to maximize profits. If the Oregon Legislature or the U.S. Congress approves laws to protect the public health, the environment, or consumer and worker safety that a foreign company doesn't like, they can sue to get the law overturned or to require taxpayers to pay large fines in return for keeping the law on the books. That is an unwarranted intrusion on the sovereignty of American citizens.

• CAFTA will hurt Oregon farmers. Farmers have repeatedly been promised that if we only approve another free trade agreement, they'll get rich. Family farmers are still waiting. The U.S. trade surplus in agriculture peaked in 1996 at $27 billion. The USDA predicts this year that the surplus will be zero. In the wake of NAFTA, the U.S. agricultural trade deficit with Mexico and Canada tripled from $5.2 billion to $14.6 billion. Perhaps that's why the trade committee of the National Association of State Directors of Agriculture voted unanimously to oppose CAFTA. Due to increased sugar imports, CAFTA will be particularly damaging to Oregon's many sugar-beet growers.

• CAFTA will restrict government procurement that benefits U.S. workers. CAFTA will prohibit governments from enacting procurement rules such as "Buy Oregon" or "Buy America" that prevent the export of jobs by giving preference to local contractors; promote the development of environmentally-friendly products or services; or provide preferences for small businesses, among other common procurement rules.

• CAFTA is a model for an even larger expansion of NAFTA. Finally, CAFTA must be defeated because it is a model for an even larger expansion of NAFTA to the entire Western Hemisphere via the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is currently being negotiated by the Bush administration.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Check out Mexico's experience. They stole our jobs because they pay their people 1/10 of what ours earn.

They stole our jobs? That's funny. The US created a net 21 million jobs since NAFTA. Our standard of living gets better and better. Household net worth is at an all time high.

Maybe the only job that was lost was the guy who was supposed to teach you economics.

[Republican Wildcat]

DeFazio is part of the Democratic Socialists of America and a caretaker of the "progressive caucus." As you can see, his words are gospel to the "true conservatives."