Forum Post: World trade is what really ruined our country ! ! ! !
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 6, 2011, 8:46 p.m. EST by mac123
(64)
from Canton Township, MI
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
In 1994 congress passed GATT. That lowered all the trade barriers between us and 4 billion people willing to work for next to nothing.
Free Trade • Free trade means that other countries pay a substantially less tax to do business in the United States that American companies do. • It means that they are free to ignore patent and trademark laws and protections. • It means they are free to use the strength of the dollar to close our manufacturing facilities and put millions of workers out of work. • These other countries are also free to ignore the environment and dump pollutants into the water and air which will eventually affect our air, weather and eventually our coast lines. • Free trade also means foreign competitors are free to disregard trade agreements by closing their countries to US products.
Fair Trade • Fair trade would equalize the tax burdens of our domestic producers and competing imports. • Fair trade would price the dollar at its fair trade value. • It would enforce trademark and patents, and would also demand environmental laws and trade agreements to be enforced. • Fair trade would reward those companies that innovate, cut costs, and invest in productivity. Once I had understood the difference between free trade and fair trade, it was easy to conceive why our manufacturing is fleeing this country and relocating overseas. It is cheaper to cut costs simply by importing, rather than investing in manufacturing improvements at home. Why should American companies have to compete at such a disadvantage? Without adequate tariffs, our tax system discriminates against our own domestic producers.
Agreed - part of it anyway. And certainly doesn't help for labor and environmental justice when we blow away all leverage in free trade agreements.
It's definitely a big part of it. I've watched how this whole crash in the market took place. Everybody had their eggs in one basket. It brought out to me the biggest fear of all that this country is so vulnerable...so easily.
Free trade is definitely a problem for the U.S. In a developed country quality of life and living standards can only be maintained at a high level through 2 ways I think:
1). Through trade restrictions.
2). Through taxation, redirected towards government investment in the sciences and high-tech industries, which lead to high-technology jobs that by their very nature cannot be outsourced very easily to third-world countries.
But to be fair, option #2 is not perfect as most technology can easily be put on a boat and shipped abroad. And even though there may not be quite as educated of a populace in the third-world country, it's usually pretty easy to understand how to work a machine, even if you don't understand the principles behind why the machine works.
It would be very difficult to implement 1) without challenging the WTO. At that point, we would need to be a global organization.
Yes, probably so, although the U.S. can easily challenge the WTO since it is still the only superpower.
I understand what you're saying, but I must disagree. The US has lost numerous cases brought to the WTO precisely because it is losing power.
It is losing power because along with our jobs our technology went with them.
its not free trade its slave trade.
HOWS THE CHANGE WORKING OUT FOR EVERYONE
too simple. not connected to the other problems.
bump!
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What the main issue is, in terms of jobs, is that we do not have enough skilled labor. While international students are coming to the US and graduating with high marks and with Engineering, Science, Mathematics, Medical, Computer Science and Economics/Finance degrees, a large part of US students are pursuing Liberal Arts, Communications, Social Studies degrees that are not as demanded in the labor market. Many top notch firms have been hiring international students for their best entry level positions because the US students just don't obtain a practical skill set while at college. Bill Gates, among other top business leaders, has been complaining about this for may years now.
I think your wrong. How can we compete with people making 1 dollar an hour in India. There has been a steady flow of jobs to India and China since we got involved with GATT..
At this moment in time the labor market in the US can't compete with China and India in Labor costs for manufacturing. They have relatively the same skill set as manufacturer labor in the US yet they obviously offer firms a price advantage that's greater than the combined additional costs of manufacturing in China. Nevertheless, as China, India, Brazil and other emerging economies develop, they will lose their cost advantage and the labor market will shift again. Until then, manufacturing will likely stay outside of the US. But ask yourself this, many people like to say they're for keeping manufacturing at any cost but they do not consider that the costs of all the products around them will likely double to triple in retail prices. Do you want to pay $60 for a t-shirt from Old Navy, $5,000 for a laptop or $4,000 for a LCD TV that could currently be purchased for $1000? When weighing the cost-benefits of the labor market moving offshore, one has to take into account the entire picture to our society. Some individuals will always win and some will always lose but as long as society in aggregate benefits, is should be deemed a positive.
Furthermore, though retaining some manufacturing capabilities is important - as we are, it is an old industry. Do you really want the US to again focus on manufacturing? Would you want to work in a factory? Or should we focus on design, technological improvement and other services. Designing technology adds much more value than manufacturing it - at some point the entire manufacturing and assembly process will be done by robots anyways. In my opinion, owning the intellectual aspect is where the future lies. Unfortunately, as I pointed out in my post above, much of the labor in the US is not skilled to move in this direction and firms are forced to hire from outside the US.
It's as though much of the Labor in the US has become a victim of our own success. We were once the drivers and forerunners to change and today it seems as though we are complacent and have lost that can-do attitude. Yes, sometimes change is difficult. I can imagine someone that has been working on an assembly line for 30 years is not too happy, nor has many future opportunities, if his firm outsources manufacturing offshore. But we live in a world that constantly changes. If we don't adapt, we get left behind. It must have been horrible for the pony express riders - who were held as one of the most skilled laborers of the time - when the telegraph was introduced and those riders that didn't adapt lost their job. The same goes for when we moved to the telephone and now skype. But that's Creative Destruction. Should we have just stayed with pony express for the sake of the riders, rather than the sake of society? We need to refocus on educating our population for what today, and more importantly, tomorrow demands. Trying to hold onto the last thread of yesterday is a recipe for stagnation and long term economic disaster.
Anyways, I'm not saying the labor market is currently good for anyone - it wasn't for me for a while either. There are many more variables at play then I mention above despite those mentioned being the main drivers of the labor market shift over the past 20 years. But the truth is that there are a lot of high paying jobs with great career opportunities out there that are currently being taken up by foreigners because firms cannot find US citizens with the right skill set.
Fully agree.
God, no. Free trade is not the problem. Trade barriers restrict the flow of both foreign goods and our goods - resulting in a net loss for everyone. Even with outsourcing, America makes more on free trade than it loses.
I think part of what you're referring to is the loss of American manufacturing jobs. This is an unfortunate truth, but it comes with America moving to a more service-based economy, which isn't a bad thing on the whole.
Read the book "Dangerous Business" By Pat Choate
lower our taxes her for everyone. has anyone got a job from a poor person ? drill here drill now . an put america back to work . vote for Herman Cain hes a worker an went from poor to wheres hes at now