I have to break this down for those who sadly think this is somehow a major accomplishment for American jobs. It's not. It's a free trade deal that is projected to lose over 159,000 American jobs. Please read this to see how free trade has contributed to American job losses. This deal still does not address worker protections, outsourcing of American jobs, as Rep. Michael Michaud said:
"We had what I thought was a productive meeting just a few weeks ago at the White House on changes we’d like to see in the agreement. At the time, we told the President that we believe the agreement as it exists now has several fundamental problems that go beyond the issues with beef and autos. But after talking to Ambassador Kirk today, I learned that these concerns were not addressed."
"I had hoped for more from this White House, which campaigned on a need to change the way we negotiate trade agreements so that they truly benefit American workers and businesses. The deal reached today, while beneficial to the auto industry, falls far short of that goal."
"Moving forward, I will continue to reach out to the Administration and work with them, especially on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But when it comes to this deal, I will work with allies on Capitol Hill to do whatever I can to defeat it. We need to finally live up to what the American people have been demanding for years – a substantial departure from the past, not a continuation of its mistakes."
Many of the corporations, such as Boeing, Ford, Carpenter, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce love this deal. What's to keep them from outsourcing more of our American jobs? Apparently nothing in this South Korea free trade pact.
Corporate leaders Friday began weighing in to support the proposed deal. "This agreement is a U.S. jobs creator. It sets the stage for a dramatic increase in U.S. exports of manufactured goods, agricultural products and services to a dynamic and growing Korean economy," Jim McNerney, the chairman, president and CEO of Boeing Co., said in a statement.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has frequently feuded with the White House, put its muscle behind the agreement, bringing an entourage of business and industrial boosters to November's Group of 20 meeting in Seoul in support of the effort to secure a deal.
"The administration has done its part. Now it's time for the new Congress to make passage of [the pact] a top priority in January. We will do everything in our power to round up the votes," Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Friday.
Here's more from Public Citizen's Trade Watch:
The current text includes the extraordinary investor rights that promote offshoring and expose domestic financial, environmental and health laws to attack in foreign tribunals. Signed before the financial crisis, the pact calls for financial services deregulation that is at odds with the lessons we’ve learned from the economic crisis and that may conflict with recent reforms made by both the U.S. and Korea. The pact also explicitly forbids reference to the International Labor Organization’s conventions that establish internationally recognized core labor standards.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Obama pledged to chart a new course for American trade policy that could create jobs. In speeches, town hall meetings, questionnaires, mailings and paid advertisements in key swing states, Obama said that he would exclude from the pact language the damaging foreign investor rights and their private enforcement that threaten public interest safeguards and promote job-offshoring. He also said he would include strong, enforceable labor and environmental protections. The Korea pact fails on all these scores.
This is another NAFTA-type deal that some people are sadly celebrating that will lead to the loss of more American jobs at a time in our economy when we don't need it. The U.S. Chamber and Republicans must be very happy right now as they watch people being duped by promises about this NAFTA-type deal.