Rep. Kaptur Contests Japan Trade Deal in House Floor Speech
Japanese closed markets and currency manipulation spoil any possible deal
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) went to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday to contest any trade agreement the U.S. might make with Japan as part of the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership. Serious concerns continue to surround efforts to rush such a deal through Congress before Representatives have a chance to exercise their Constitutional responsibility to review it. Rep. Kaptur’s speech came less than a week before Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama and to deliver an address before Congress.
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.
Rep. Kaptur’s full remarks:
“Congress has spent this past week trying to “fast-track” trade promotion authority and the new Trans-Pacific Partnership proposal for trade agreements with several nations in the Pacific. Why rush such a significant piece of legislation that cedes Congress’s Constitutional authority to the executive branch? Meanwhile Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and President Obama are scheduled for April 28th to further fast-track this agreement.
Rushing this process is an easy tactic to try to silence a reasonable opposition. But based on our country’s history of making trade deals that drive up our trade deficit and outsource millions of U.S. jobs, the American people should be alarmed. I and many others are sounding that alarm.
Japan is one of the most significant partners in this agreement and is the world’s second largest currency manipulator and one of the leading protectionist markets in the Pacific. They have much to gain from a weak trade agreement.
Japan is the world’s 3rd largest automobile market, but 96% of that market belongs only to Japanese automobiles. Since 2000, we’ve been able to sell 183,000 cars there. Guess how many they sold here: 16.3 million. That’s 89,000 to one.
There’s something wrong with trying to work a deal that rewards a country whose markets are closed. We need a new trade model that creates jobs in America again and does not reward currency manipulators and protectionist markets.”
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