June 24, 2008: NAFTA and its Effect on the American Economy

June 24, 2008

Wherever is he getting his data? Most Americans know thisso-called free trade agreement is anything but free. We know it hascreated huge job losses and trade deficits, and we know the harm it hascaused in this country and across our continent.

NAFTA has created a gaping net hemorrhage of jobs, lost jobs and wealth for our country. I beg Senator McCain to look at the discipline of the numbers. Look at the trade accounts. They don't lie.

Since NAFTA's passage in 1993, our country has suffered $1trillion of NAFTA trade loss, amassing a huge deficit with both Mexicoand Canada. The figures get worse every single year. NAFTA has not onlycost our country over 1 million lost jobs, we would have added evenmore economic growth and jobs if we had not allowed all these jobs andproduction lines to be outsourced.

Robert Scott of the Economic Policy Institute points outthat ``growing trade deficits with Mexico and Canada have pushed morethan 1 million U.S. workers out of higher wage jobs and into lower wagepositions in non-trade related industries. Thus, the displacement of 1million jobs from traded to non-traded goods industries reduced wagepayments to U.S. workers by $7.6 billion in 2004 alone.'' Those arestaggering figures.

That loss packs a wallop by any measure. I will place in the RECORDa list of just some of the factories that have outsourced productionand relocated to Mexico. They go from A to Z: Allied Signal, Amana,Maytag, you can go all the way down the list, Medtronics, StanleyWorks, Zenith. I will place the entire list in the RECORD.

Now, it is interesting where Senator McCain wasmaking his speech. He had not just outsourced himself to Canada to makethe speech, he spoke before the Economic Club of Canada, a businessorganization whose membership cheered his remarks. And they should.They alone have made out handsomely under this lopsided tradeagreement.

Listen to what the leader of the New Democratic Party inCanada, Parliamentarian Jack Layton, has to say about what is going onin Canada. In a recent letter to Senator Obama, Leader Laytonstated clearly: ``Despite the fact that most Canadians are workinglonger hours, 80 percent of families have lost ground or stagnated inboth earnings and after tax returns compared to the previousgeneration. Real wages have not increased in Canada for more than 30years. Yet the share of corporate profits in our Canadian economy is atits highest point since 1961.''

Thoughtful leaders in Canada disagree with Senator McCain. They know the income washout that can come from ill-cast trade agreements. He should pay attention to their views.

Before NAFTA, the United States had a trade surplus withMexico of over $1 billion a year. Jobs were increasing in our country.Today, since NAFTA's passage, the U.S. has racked up an astounding$452.3 billion deficit with Mexico and an even larger $606 billiontrade deficit with Canada. At a minimum, our Nation should seek balanceand reciprocity, not deficits with these nations.

In Mexico, its civil society has been pleading with us tocorrect the abuses of NAFTA. Former Mexican Parliamentarian VictorSuarez pleads, ``We want good trade, not free trade.'' He should knowwell. The Mexican countryside has been devastated as the result ofNAFTA as over 2 million poor farm families have been thrown off theirland, uprooted in the most cruel of ways. A visible sign of theirplight here is their illegal immigration to our Nation out of sheerdesperation.

A group of farmers in Mexico calling themselves ``TheCountryside Can't Take It Anymore'' literally rode their horses down tothe Mexican Parliament to draw attention to the washout of livelihoodsof their country men and women.

When NAFTA was first debated, many Members here tried toamend the agreement to avoid these negative consequences on people andcommunities. Senator McCain didn't lift a finger to help. Senator Obama was not a Senator then.

America should advance trade agreements that produce jobs,balances and surplus, not deficits. Deficits are not good, in yourcheckbook or in America's accounts. Trade should lift all boats, notcreate a race to the bottom. Good trade means fair trade for all, not``gotcha'' trade. Good trade means good jobs, living wages, the rightto bargain the worth of your labor by contract, a sustainableenvironment, and sovereign food rights for all people.

For a rich Nation like America, I think good trade alsomeans a conscience for the poorest people on this continent, notexploitation. NAFTA has produced none of this. It has producednegatives. It is time America voted for positives.

[Begin Insert]

A Mexican worker observed to me, on one of my several tripsthere, that their futures were put at even more risk as these globalcompanies work them for pennies an hour, always threatening to moveelsewhere. The worker said to me: ``Poor countries are like crabs in abucket. Every time one country starts to climb up out of the bucket,another one pulls it back down.''

NAFTA has produced none of this. It has produced negatives for the vast majority, and vast wealth for a few.

For Senator McCain and any others who do not knowwhich outsourced firms have contributed to America's growing tradedeficits on this continent with accompanying job and benefit losses,let me place them in the RECORD:

[End Insert]

Companies Relocated to Mexico Since NAFTA

20th Century Plastics; 3 Day Blinds; Aalfs Manufacturing;Acer Peripherals; Advance Transformer; Alcoa Fujikura; Allied Signal;Amana; American Olean Tile; American Standard; Ametek; AMP; Amphenol;Anchor Glass Container; Anvil Knitwear; Autoliv

GPO's PDFASP; AZT Sewing; Bali Company, Inc.; Bassett Furniture Industries; Batts; and Bayer Corp./Medsep.

BMW; Borg Warner Automotive; Breed Technologies; BrunswickBicycles; Burlington Industries; Capital Mercury Apparel; CanonBusiness Machines; Casio Manufacturing; C-Corps Electronics; ChampionProducts; Chrysler; Clothes Connection; Commemorative Brands; CrossCreek Apparel; Daewoo; Dayco Products; Dean Foods Vegetable Company;Dyersburg Fabrics; Dixon Ticonderoga; and Eastman.

Eaton Corporation; Kodak/Verbatim; Eberhard-Faber; Eli LillyCorporation; Emerson Electric; Ericsson; Exide; Federal Mogul;Fisher-Price; Fiskars; Flexel; Ford; Foster Grant; Fruit of the LoomCorporation; General Electric; JVC; General Motors; GerberChildrenswear; Haggar Clothing; and Hamilton Beach-Proctor-Silex.

Hasbro; Henry I. Seigel; Hershey Chocolate; Hewlett Packard;Hitachi Home Electronics; Honda; Honeywell, Inc.; House of Perfection;Household Perfection; Hughes Aircraft; Hyundai Precision America; IBM;Ithaca Industries; Jeanerette Mills; John Deere; Johnson Controls;Kellogg Company; Kemet Electronics; and KLH Industries.

Kodak Polychrome Graphics; Lee Apparel; Levi Strauss;Lexington Fabrics; Mallinckrodt; Martin Mills; Master Lock; Matsushita;Mattel; Maytag; Maxell Corporation; McCulloch Corp.; Medtronic;Mercedes Benz; Mitsubishi Electronics Corp; Monon Corp.; Motorola;Nissan; and Nokia.

Oneita Industries; Oshkosh B'Gosh; Oxford Industries; ParkerHabbifin; Philips; Pioneer Speakers; PL Industries; Plaid Clothing;Ransom Industries; Regency Packing Company; Russell Corporation;Samsonite Corporation; Samsung; Sanyo North America; Sara Lee;Scientific Atlantica; Seton Company; Siemens; Singer Furniture; SmithCorona; and SMTC Manufacturing.

Spangler Candy; Sola optical; Solectron Corporation; SonyElectronics; Square D; Stanley Works; Stony Creek Knitting Mills;Strick Corporation; Stroh Brewery; Sun Apparel; Sunbeam; TexasInstruments; Thomas and Betts; Tiffany; and Toshiba.

Tri-Con Industries; Trinity Industries; TRW, TultexCorporation; Tyco Electronics; United State Leather; UnitedTechnologies; Automotive; Vanity Fair Intimates; VF; VW; WallsIndustries; Weiser Lock; Westinghouse; Wilkins Industries; WilliamCarter; Woolrich; Wrangler; Xerox; and Zenith.

McCain Criticizes Obama's Opposition to NAFTA

(By David Espo)

In a cross-border political attack, John McCain said Friday thatBarack Obama's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement is``nothing more than retreating behind protectionist walls.''

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting added thatif he wins the White House, ``have no doubt that America will honor itsinternational commitments and we will expect the same of others.''

McCain did not mention Obama by name as he spoke before theEconomic Club of Canada, a business organization whose membershipcheered his remarks.

Obama, on the campaign trail in Florida, shot back: ``What'sinteresting to me is that he chose to talk about trade in Canadainstead of in Ohio or Michigan. ..... I think Senator McCain shouldhave shared some of his views there to American voters.''

Obama said he talked to Canadian Prime Minister StephenHarper on June 9 after he secured the Democratic presidentialnomination. ``I believe that the U.S. has an enormous interest inmaintaining robust trade relationships with Canada and Mexico, and Iexpect those to continue under an Obama administration,'' he said.

McCain's trip to Canada was unusual if not unprecedentedfor a presidential candidate, one that his campaign paid for yet aidesinsisted was not political.

Democrats criticized plans for a scheduled $100-per-person``finance event,'' and raised questions about U.S. Ambassador DavidWilkins' involvement in the trip. McCain's aides said Wilkins had donenothing wrong. They also countered that the money was to pay the costof the Economic Club luncheon, then canceled the event withoutexplanation.

The free trade agreement is intensely controversial in theUnited States, supported by most businesses, opposed by many unions,and has already emerged as a flashpoint in the presidential race.

McCain supports it, while Obama and former rival HillaryRodham Clinton vied for support among blue-collar workers in theDemocratic primaries by stressing their desire to force changes.

``Since NAFTA was concluded, it has contributed to strongjob growth and flourishing trade. Since the agreement was signed, theUnited States has added 25 million jobs and Canada more than 4million,'' McCain said.

In an unmistakable reference to Obama, he added, ``Demandingunilateral changes and threatening to abrogate an agreement that hasincreased trade and prosperity is nothing more than retreating behindprotectionist walls.''

Aides said that was a reference in part to comments the Illinois senator had made in a Feb. 26 debate during the primaries.

``I will make sure that we renegotiate in the same way thatSenator Clinton talked about,'' he said at the time. ``..... I think weshould use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure thatwe actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced.''

In his speech, McCain expressed his appreciation forCanada's deployment of 2,500 troops to Afghanistan, and skipped lightlyover Iraq, where the government declined to send forces.

``..... This nation has done all that those differenceswould allow to help the Iraqi people. In characteristic form, Canadahas given generous humanitarian aid and development assistance,'' hesaid.

Later, at a news conference, he said he hoped officials fromthe two countries could resolve the issue of Omar Khadr, a youngCanadian citizen who is imprisoned at Guantanamo as a detainee in thewar on terror.

``I have always opposed torture and any interrogationtechnique that would be constructed in any way as torture,'' McCainadded, unprompted.

McCain has made several trips outside the United Statessince he became a presidential contender, including European and MiddleEastern countries.

He arrived in the Canadian capital aboard his charteredcampaign jet and was greeted on the tarmac by Wilkins. The senator saidit was not a political journey, yet told reporters he did not feel itwas appropriate to have U.S. taxpayers pick up the cost.

McCain was still on Canadian soil when the DemocraticNational Committee filed a Freedom of Information Act request with theState Department seeking information about possible violations offederal law in connection with the trip. Under the law, federalofficials are limited in their ability to undertake political activity.

Aides said in advance McCain would come to Canada tohighlight trade, and there has been widespread speculation that he willsoon travel to Mexico and perhaps elsewhere to make the same point ashe made before his lunchtime audience.

``Last year alone, we exchanged some $560 billion in goods,and Canada is the leading export market for 36 of the 50 UnitedStates,'' the Arizona senator said.

``This country stands as America's leading overall exportmarket, and America is Canada's leading agricultural market. With 60percent of all direct foreign investment in Canada originating in theUnited States some $289 billion in 2007--our economies draw strengthfrom one another.''

He also said improvements are needed.

``Complying with NAFTA's rules of origin can be cumbersomeand costly. Border delays can pose a serious impediment to trade, theequivalent of a tariff,'' he said.