[CTC] News Clips | House 'Make it in America' Agenda starts rolling

[Citizens Trade Campaign]

http://capital.villagesoup.com/column/columnpost/common-sense-direction-on-trade/340946

http://exceptionmag.com/politics/perspectives/0001829/common-sense-direction-trade

Common sense direction on tradeBy U.S. Congressman Mike Michaud | Jul 28,
2010

Washington, D.C. — President Obama recently announced he wanted to address
the outstanding concerns with the pending Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement
and bring it to Congress for a vote.

In response to that announcement, this week I sent a letter, signed by 109
other members of Congress, asking the president for a meeting to discuss how
we can fix the Korea-U.S. FTA and how we can improve U.S. trade policy so it
works for Mainers, too.

The U.S. approach to trade has not changed drastically in the 15 years since
the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect. Now, more than
ever is the time to review and revise our trade policy.

If the recession showed us anything, it showed us how important it is to
have a robust manufacturing sector and how economically damaging our trade
deficit can be. The only meaningful way to address these issues is to fix
our broken trade policy, and we can start with making changes to the
Korea-U.S. FTA.

Unfortunately, fixing a handful of provisions in the Korea FTA, such as
those on auto and beef provisions in the Korea FTA ,will not be sufficient.
It is imperative U.S. car companies and cattle ranchers get equal and
complete market access in Korea.

It is also equally important that we make sure the agreement does not
undermine the new financial regulations just signed into law or make states’
workplace safety regulations vulnerable to challenges by Korean companies
doing business here.

It’s also critical we look at basic issues like how to connect small U.S.
manufacturers with export opportunities and how to retrain workers who lose
their jobs as a result of these trade agreements.

Right now, there is not enough technical assistance for our small businesses
to find those openings in foreign markets. And Mainers are all too familiar
with Trade Adjustment Assistance. The assistance is needed relief and the
training is helpful, but without a broader effort to protect our
manufacturing sector, there are no jobs for which to be trained.

Too often in Washington, efforts to improve our trade priorities are
misconstrued as being anti-trade. This is simply an argument of convenience.
Of course I support trade. I want Maine’s farmers and businesses to export
their products to foreign markets. But signing flawed trade agreements just
for the sake of signing them is bad policy and it hurts our economy.

The reasons for getting our trade policy right are simple. We shouldn’t
promote off-shoring of U.S. jobs. We should protect and promote the U.S.
manufacturing sector. And we must address our ballooning trade deficit.

Signing trade agreements that take away manufacturing jobs or benefit
multinational companies at the expense of middle-class families is not only
wrong, it’s economically unsustainable.

That is why my colleagues and I requested a meeting with President Obama to
discuss how we can fix the Korea-U.S. FTA and ways we can improve our
long-term trade strategy. A productive conversation will help us take
advantage of this unique opportunity to reexamine our approach to trade and
make sure it works for all states, including Maine.
Opening our markets shouldn’t mean losing our livelihoods, but if we keep
pushing more bad trade deals, that’s exactly what will happen.



-- 
Daphne Loring, Coordinator
Maine Fair Trade Campaign
238 Goddard Rd.
Lewiston, ME 04240
207.777.6387 (office)
207.266.5895 (cell)
www.mainefairtrade.org


**Proud members of MaineShare workplace giving <http://www.maineshare.org/>
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Donate to MFTC through MaineShare by directing funds to the Maine Foreign
Affairs Education Fund
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