The Issue: NAFTA
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THE ISSUEIf you would like to see this article placed in mass media outlets all over the country: In the early 1990s the North American Free Trade Agreement was sold to the American people by promising endless benefits job creation and rising incomes for U.S. workers, cheaper goods for American consumers and unseen surges in exports to markets that had never before been open to U.S. After initially embracing NAFTA on false pretenses, the first myth to be busted was the promise of an increase in trade surplus with Mexico. While the U.S. held a small trade surplus with Mexico prior to NAFTA, by 2007 that turned into a $91 billion trade deficit. With Canada and Mexico combined, the U.S. has turned a $24 billion deficit into a $190 billion deficit in just 15 years - an astounding 691 percent increase.  NAFTA has outsourced jobs to Mexico where labor is incredibly cheap and the environment is a mere after-thought, thus driving down wages and forcing American workers into more direct competition with one another. U.S. manufacturing employment declined from 16.8 million people in 1993 to 13.9 million in 2007. Over 20 percent of our country’s good manufacturing jobs have been lost during the NAFTA-era, only to be replaced by low-paying service sector jobs with little or no benefits. Instead of creating jobs, NAFTA has sent revenues across the border where iconic American companies such as Coca Cola, Ford, General Motors, and General Electric have opened up production facilities in Mexico. The average line worker in a U.S. factory earns $18 per hour, whereas his Mexican counterpart will be lucky to make $3 per hour. Since 1993, 15 percent of employers in manufacturing, communication and wholesale distribution have shut down or relocated. 1993 300,000 family farms have been put out of business. Each year we import over $71 billion in food products - double the total pre-NAFTA. Those farmers lucky enough to survive are hanging on by a thread. Net farm incomes have declined by 13 percent over the last 15 years.  NAFTA eliminates tariffs, one of the few proven weapons to protect the U.S. against cut-wage competition and other predatory practices used to destroy our industry and subjugate our economy. Eliminating tariffs through "free trade" means companies have no choice but to locate their production facilities in countries with the lowest cost labor sources. Otherwise, they will go out of business fighting those who do. How can the United States remain a superpower if we rely on others to produce our goods? We must stop forcing U.S. companies to outsource, relocate, or buy from foreign suppliers. It must be profitable to produce in the United States. Money we spend on imports returns to buy us out. The majority of many goods we consume are now made by foreign corporations or by foreign owned U.S. corporations. This is an intolerable condition we cannot allow to continue. EIC POSITION"NAFTA has rendered America uncompetitive in the world: it has destroyed our industrial base, caused us to outsource our production and has killed millions of blue collar American manufacturing jobs. It is now impossible to be competitive in manufacturing in America- which is reflected in the diminishing market share of U.S. companies domestically, the sale of our best companies, and our increased dependence on imports.” WHAT THEY ARE SAYING“…trade deals like NAFTA ship jobs overseas and force parents to compete with their teenagers to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart. That's what happens when the American worker doesn't have a voice at the negotiating table.” “In Ohio, NAFTA is a five-letter word with a four-letter meaning, as Ohio lost a huge slice of the 3.5 million manufacturing jobs that vanished under the McCain-Kemp-Bush policy of unilateral disarmament in the trade wars being waged against America.” WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
• Write a letter to your congressional representative and demand that NAFTA be renegotiated. • Join a discussion group via Meetup.com to find people in your area to talk about this and other issues with. REFERENCESAP “Factory Jobs: 3 million lost since 2000” 4/20/2007. “Job Losses Due to Trade Since NAFTA Deepen” 7/17/2008. “Job Shift: Service Jobs Replacing Manufacturing” 11/5/2007. EconomyInCrisis.org “No Jobs For The New Economy or The Old” 1/11/2008. The New York Times “Barack Obama’s Feb. 12 Speech” 2/12/2008. |
LIST OF RELATED ARTICLES
Trade Officials Reaffirm Commitment to NAFTAWednesday, October 21, 2009
Trade ministers from Canada, Mexico and the U.S., the three nations that comprise NAFTA, gathered Monday in Dallas for their annual meeting to discuss commerce issues.
NAFTA Limiting PolicyFriday, August 28, 2009
NAFTA obligations could potentially derail domestic policy measures regarding our own financial bailouts.
North American Summit: Fruitless on Fair TradeMonday, August 24, 2009
Last week’s North American Summit produced few substantive results on the trade front and instead the chief executives of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. returned to their home countries empty handed.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
While he has greatly softened the harsh rhetoric used against NAFTA on the campaign trail, Obama did not back away from his support of the “buy American” provision, even in the face of heavy criticism from Canadian officials.
NAFTA Trade PlungesThursday, July 02, 2009
Surface trade with America’s North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, continues to plummet.
Calling for fair NAFTASaturday, June 20, 2009
If every nation simply came to the realization that there is nothing wrong with protecting its domestic economy, many of the problems with international commerce would be swept away.
NAFTA Suits Threatening U.S. SovereigntyFriday, June 12, 2009
One of the largest problems facing U.S. trade policy is the fact that we make our laws subject to foreign challenge.
Mexican Truckers File $6 billion Claim Against U.S.Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Roughly 4,500 Mexican trucking companies are suing the U.S. government over its ban of Mexican truckers on U.S. roadways.
Obama Officially Backing Away From Reforming NAFTA
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