ICYMI: In op-ed, Kaptur urges officials in NAFTA nations to create a trade model that values workers and wages
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) authored an op-ed in The Hill newspaper urging Canadian officials to join her and her colleagues in holding President Trump to his promises to American workers. Kaptur urged trade negotiators to create a new trade agreement that lifts workers and raises wages across the continent.
Read the op-ed in The Hill below:
If we put workers first, all three NAFTA nations will win in a new trade agreement
By Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Opinion Contributor — 12/11/17 11:30 AM EST
For many members of Congress renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been more than 20 years in the making. A chance to create a new trade model that benefits workers across the North American continent.
I led the opposition to NAFTA in 1993, and have made trade a top priority in my tenure in Congress. It is not for a lack of support for global trade, but because trade must be an economic system that lifts economic prospects for all people. It must be fair. A drive through my district in Northern Ohio, spanning five counties from Toledo to Cleveland, is a reminder of the plight workers experienced following NAFTA's passage. From shuttered factories, hollowed out neighborhoods, and chronic economic stress due to reduced income and outsourced jobs.
In a recent letter to U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, I emphasized that the voices of workers from Ohio and our industrial heartland should guide this administration's renegotiations process.
This Summer I held a NAFTA renegotiation field hearing in Brook Park, Ohio near Cleveland. Testimony from the United Steelworkers, the United Auto Workers, National Farmers Union, Teamsters, the Blue Green Alliance, Sierra Club, and Policy Matters Ohio was consistent: put workers first.
Though the situations and analysis varied, their stories were all too similar. Millions of Americans witnessed jobs disappear due to outsourcing, and with significant wage and benefit losses as a result of NAFTA's economic impact. Northern Ohio families lost on average, $7,000 in annual wages since 1990!
The U.S. has never achieved a trade balance with our NAFTA competitors. Indeed the red ink runs deep. Technically, in 2016 the U.S. had a $12.5 billion trade surplus with Canada when services are included. But if you look at just goods, the products that we make, that number flips into a $12.1 billion trade deficit with our neighbors to the North. Now with our neighbor to the South, according to data from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, our overall trade deficit with Mexico in 2016 was $55.6 billion, and our goods deficit with Mexico is $63 billion. It is clear where our imbalance lies.
Since NAFTA's passage, the cumulative trade deficit with Mexico and Canada is well over $1 trillion which translates into thousands and thousands of lost jobs and lower wages for U.S. workers. We must stop these trade practices that snuff out American jobs and hurt our communities. My bill, the Balancing Trade Act, would require the administration to address the trade deficit seriously.
Deficits aside, signals and statements from Canada hold promise in these renegotiations. Though we don't agree on everything when it comes to trade, Canada's statements urging the end of so-called "Right to Work" laws, which are anti-worker, as a part of NAFTA is positive. It is an affirmative statement of Canada's values and the priorities of their government. In theory, each nation is going to represent itself and its elected leaders, but Canadian overtures on worker protections and worker's rights holds value for all workers in all three nations.
Additionally, there is promise we can find common ground to rid North America's trade system of the corporate-friendly Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, which only further bloats transnational interests.
Over the course of this year, I repeatedly called for the inclusion of a tri-party Independent Labor Secretariat, to ensure labor standards are enforced. This idea is supported by the AFL-CIO. Perhaps this idea is one our friends in Canada and Mexico can get behind. Having an instrument with a clear purpose to represent North American workers will help remedy labor inequities that vastly harmed workers across our continent.
As we enter the next round of NAFTA negotiations, which are to take place in Washington, D.C. in December, I call on my counterparts in Canada to join me to fight for a continental compact that values workers and raises wages. Let us elevate the rule of law and democratic principles. The Trump administration has signaled its intent to follow through on President Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric; our Canadian colleagues should join in holding his feet to the fire.
We have a rare opportunity to attempt to finally focus on the workers. Now is not the time for politics or pandering to corporations and wealthy special interests. Ultimately, the American worker, and workers throughout North America need a level playing field. Congress will supply the votes to support such an achievement if the deal puts American workers' interests first.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur represents Ohio's Ninth District. Kaptur is the Dean of the Ohio Delegation and senior-most woman in the U.S. Congress.