International President Leo W. Gerard and progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall this week discussed the millions of American jobs lost to the trade deficit with China.
Since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the trade deficit has widened to $3.9 trillion, costing the American economy 3.4 million jobs, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute.
“One of the tragedies is that people bought into the smoke and mirrors of these so-called free trade deals,” said Gerard. “The fact of the matter is, there is no such thing as free trade. Trade is regulated. It’s on whose behalf is it regulated? These trade deals aren’t negotiated for working families. These trade deals are negotiated on behalf of the already financially powerful.”
Bad trade also puts downward pressure on wages, Gerard said. “The piece that’s a little more under the radar is the fact that you go into a negotiation with an employer, they will generally say ‘we can’t do that because we’ve got to compete with China, we’ve got to compete with Mexico.’”
The solutions, Gerard said, are to refashion trade deals so they take into account workers, their families and their communities, and just as importantly, to enforce existing trade deals to ensure they aren’t being abused.
“Even if he had the best trade deal in the world, if it was never enforced would be quickly eroded by China and Mexico and everyone else,” Gerard said.
“I’ve got no illusions that this will be an easy fight.”
Full audio:
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