Rep. Kaptur Addresses Breakdown in TPP Trade Talks
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) responded today to news that the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks taking place in Maui, HI have failed to reach an accord.
“The recent breakdown in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks confirms what we have known: there is no good deal to be had,” said Rep. Kaptur. “With every new trade deal we sign, our global trade deficit balloons and thousands of good jobs are shipped overseas. This deal would be no different. Throughout my years of service, Japan’s auto market has remained largely closed to imported autos and auto parts. Less than five percent of its domestic market is made up of non-Japanese vehicles, while more than half of our market is comprised of imports. It’s time to end the outsourcing of jobs and open closed markets to U.S. exports.”
Automotive trade issues between the U.S. and with Japan have proven to be among the most intractable in the talks. The U.S. trade deficit with Japan is one of the largest in the world, reaching a cumulative total of nearly $2 trillion ($1,963,654,100,100) since 1983 through the first quarter of 2015. According to a recent study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Japan stands to gain the most overall, an estimated $119.4 billion or 2.2 percent of their national economy, if the TPP is enacted.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan displaced 896,600 U.S. jobs in 2013 alone. Fifty two percent, or 466,000 of these jobs, were in manufacturing with 13.3 percent or 118,800 jobs just in motor vehicles and parts. Ohio was among the hardest hit states, losing 50,900 jobs due to the trade deficit with Japan that year. Ohio’s 9th Congressional district ranked #30 among all 436 U.S. Congressional districts with 3,400 net jobs displaced due to the 2013 U.S. trade deficit with Japan.
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