I sent most of this to my US House of Representatives Rep. Pitts.
In Rep. Pitts OpEd about trade, he said "South Korea, a country that, once very poor, now has a trillion-dollar economy, largely because of trade with other nations." He spoke about how trade was good with other countries, and I agree with him, it can be good, if we aren't also shipping our jobs out along with these trade arangements.
South Korea Exports $49.1 Billion dollars in intigrated circuits to the world. They are 2nd in total exports by money. The US is 5th in total Exports at $19.4 Billion. I look at those jobs that were lost when those trade agreements took effect. The United States took a hit and lost those jobs creating integrated circuits, repairing the machines that created those circuits, and the design of the circuits. With the upcoming TPP agreement, many of those countries make Steel. He has a major company right here in his home district that is a major manufacture of steel. HIGH Steel is a major employer of many of his constituents. I asked him to please look closely at this coming agreement. This agreement, which the Public is NOT allowed to see could come back to haunt his own district and many of the people that live in it. Make sure We are not about to get overrun by cheaper made products because their costs of labor and supplies are so much less than ours are.
Sometimes trade is a good thing, He was correct, but not at the cost of American Workers and their families livelihoods.
I wanted Rep. Pitts to understand that the last time we had a round of "Trade Agreements" American Workers lost their jobs by the truckload because we can not compete when it comes to the EXTREMELY LOW wages and material costs of other countries.
I feel TPP is going to be bad for the United States, but am I alone? How do you feel? I'll try and place a poll question below.