On May 1, 2015, Daniel Mills writes on Economy In Crisis:
When NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was passed, many people feared the worst. The results have indeed been disastrous. Just look at the results:
- The trade deficit with Mexico has exploded
- Mexican wages remain nearly as low as they were prior to NAFTA and are still a small fraction of our average wages
- Wealth and power has not filtered to the people. Most of Mexico is still controlled by less than 100 corporations
- Many of our other trading partners have relocated facilities to Mexico to circumvent other trade agreements with the U.S.
- American manufacturing has lost 3 million jobs in the past 10 years as U.S. companies have also moved to Mexico for lower wages and lax regulations
On the basis of the one-sided disastrous results over the past 15 years, whoever advocated NAFTA seems to be either grossly negligent of their duty of representing their constituents or is simply working contrary to the best interests of this country.
The evidence was clear that NAFTA would be a disaster.
Imagine if Congress decided that a single state, such as California or Michigan, was in desperate need of jobs and investment and made dramatic changes to boost that state’s economy.
Imagine Congress did the following for only that one American state:
- Dropped the minimum wage to $3 per hour
- Exempted them from child labor laws
- Expanded the work week
- Reduced health and work place safety laws
- Banned unions
- Reduced protection for the environment
On top of this, the companies residing in this state would still have tariff and duty-free access to all of the others states. In other words, companies in this state could produce at a fraction of the cost of other states, yet would be able to sell directly to all other 49 states and compete at no additional cost.
What would you think of that? You and the other 49 states might agree that this was absolutely ridiculous!
But this is exactly what is happening right now with NAFTA and other “free” trade agreements, like the KORUS FTA (Korean.S. Free Trade Agreement). Not with California or Michigan, but with Mexico and Canada from the time NAFTA was passed. Why would any company manufacture in the U.S. now when it can produce next-door in Mexico with all these unfair advantages?
Because of disastrous free trade agreements like NAFTA and the KORUS FTA, our productive factories are shutting down. Millions of jobs are disappearing. Enrollment on programs like food stamps is exploding. Poverty is becoming an epidemic.
Our government allows outsourcers to ship our jobs overseas, which results in millions of dollars in profits for them, while our middle class erodes.
The quickest solution is to penalize outsourcing, establish tariffs and incentivize production. We can either do this—or enact similar changes—or the millions of our jobless will soon storm out of their homeless shelters and take to the streets to demand new elections, to select leaders who can actually lift them and the rest of the nation out of poverty and starvation.
We MUST get out of NAFTA now!
http://economyincrisis.org/content/nafta-killing-us-economy
