I don’t know why this dude is shocked. Maybe he has polls over several years for comparison, but NAFTA was opposed by almost two-thirds of Americans. But “trade” is a misnomer for what is actually happening because all these nations we have agreements with have few products to sell us. We’re simply trading American jobs and production facilities for cheap labor and lax regulation where products will be produced and shipped to the US. Our trade deficit is fast approaching a trillion dollars annually.
Maybe the American people are contemplating this “trade” philosophy where the only value is the cheapest production cost.
Do I have a horrible "trade deficit" with the grocery store because I spend hundreds of dollars there every month without them buying a single thing from me?
The term "trade deficit" is deceptive, because it's not a deficit at all, any more than my fiscal relationship with the grocery store is.
I’d be opposed to NAFTA too, mostly because of the way it was passed. Instead of being treated as a treaty (requiring a 2/3 vote in the Senate), it was treated as regulation of international commerce (requiring simple majorities in both houses). With its binding rules and regulations and its creation of supra-national tribunals, it sounds more like a treaty, doesn’t it?