No, we weren't "stymied" before NAFTA kicked-in. But then, we weren't "stymied" after it kicked-in, either. And can you point me in the direction of this Boeing plant in China that builds planes? Not components, mind you, but planes. This plant is the Moby Dick of the paleo-protectionist movement.
Good news for you. India is about to lose those IT jobs they are taking from American companies. You see, those pesky Indian engineers require $700 a month of $8,400 a year in salary. China is offering engineers at $500 a month or $6,000 a year. China is going to pull in $27 billion in IT services by 2007.
American Engineers are surely going to not stand still. Why college and masters degree loans aren't that much. Surely they can tighten their belts and offer themselves for hire at $475 a month!
These are very well paid people in China. $3 an hour for educated people. China is now going to start massively teaching english in school, so they can get more white collar jobs. You don't like it, take $3 an hour and compete with them!