<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><a href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/Do-U.S.-Workers-Really-Have-to-Rely-on-Canadian-and-Mexican-Negotiators-to-Look-Out-for-Our-Jobs" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/Do-U.S.-Workers-Really-Have-to-Rely-on-Canadian-and-Mexican-Negotiators-to-Look-Out-for-Our-Jobs</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> </span></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Do U.S. Workers Really Have to Rely on Canadian and Mexican Negotiators to Look Out for Our Jobs?<o:p class=""></o:p></h1><p class="date" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">09/22/2015<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="author" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/%28author%29/Celeste%20Drake" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Celeste Drake</a><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Throughout 2014 and 2015, the Barack Obama <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/01/30/the-obama-administrations-illusionary-job-gains-from-the-trans-pacific-partnership/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">administration</a> and cheerleaders for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), including the <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/above-the-fold/tpp-could-create-700000-new-us-jobs" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a>, have bragged about the “job creation” effects of the TPP. Others have been more skeptical, including the <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/whats-wrong-with-the-tpp-this-deal-will-lead-to-more-job-loss-and-downward-pressures-on-the-wages-of-most-working-americans/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Economic Policy Institute</a> and the <a href="http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/getting-it-wrong-on-trade-tpp-is-not-good-for-workers" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Center for Economic and Policy Research</a>. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Those who believe that the TPP will destroy more jobs than it creates have plenty of evidence to support our claim based on prior trade deals (nearly<a href="http://epi.3cdn.net/fdade52b876e04793b_7fm6ivz2y.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">700,000</a> U.S. jobs displaced due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/u-s-korea-trade-deal-resulted-in-growing-trade-deficits-and-more-than-75000-lost-u-s-jobs/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">75,000</a> U.S. jobs displaced by the more recent Korea Free Trade Agreement; and the <a href="http://s2.epi.org/files/2014/bp385-china-trade-deficit.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">3.2 million</a> U.S. jobs displaced to China since it joined the World Trade Organization trade deal). <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">When the TPP’s backers say “this time it’s different,” it is hard to prove them wrong—given the <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/28432090-03b3-11e5-a70f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3mF3sRe58" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">secrecy</a> of the negotiations. But it seems like every trade agreement the U.S. trade representative negotiates gets sold to unsuspecting Americans as the “<a href="https://ustr.gov/archive/assets/Trade_Agreements/Regional/CAFTA/Briefing_Book/asset_upload_file58_7878.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">best ever</a>,” and the <a href="http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Free-Trade-Agreement-TPP/The-Top-10-Shortcomings-of-the-Trans-Pacific-Partnership" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">TPP</a> is no different.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><i class="">This</i> time, negotiators from <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-excludes-canada-mexico-from-tpp-auto-negotiations/article25842330/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Canada</a> and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-03/mexico-throws-a-wrench-into-trade-talks" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Mexico</a> have called foul while there is still time to act—and we’re lucky they did. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The <a href="http://ourfuture.org/20150825/under-pressure-to-finish-tpp-are-they-giving-away-more-jobs" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">reported “rule of origin</a>” (ROO) agreed to by the United States and Japan would require just 45% of the value of finished automobiles to be made with “regional value content” (content from any of the 12 TPP countries) to qualify for preferential treatment. And for auto parts, the requirement would be a mere 30%! <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Last month, Canadian and Mexican officials did the math and said no deal! They objected to these low standards, with Mexico’s Minister of the Economy explaining, “What you can accuse me of” is advocating for “<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-03/mexico-throws-a-wrench-into-trade-talks" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">the interests of my country</a>.” <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Why aren’t the United States’ <i class="">own</i> negotiators doing the same? If the reported deal is accurate, it would wipe out jobs throughout the U.S. supply chain. Even with a far higher regional value content rule, U.S. jobs are still at risk to other TPP countries, including Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. But the lower the regional value content required by the TPP, the more auto sector jobs U.S. workers stand to lose. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Talks on the subject have re-opened, and negotiators are trying again to strike a deal. If the final content requirement fails to <i class="">exceed</i> the 62.5% required by NAFTA (a three-country deal, as opposed to the TPP’s 12), calling the TPP a “job creation” deal will be just another broken promise. The claims being made about the benefits of TPP almost would be laughable if they weren’t such a tragic prospect. Every job lost is a family devastated. Every plant closed is a community diminished. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The auto industry has been a key driver of the U.S. economic recovery since 2009—and now the entire industry is at risk, not by accident, but through deliberate policy choices. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Now is not the time to sweep the <a href="http://www.democracyjournal.org/38/seeing-is-believing.php" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">details of the TPP</a> under the rug. The rules matter. Now is the time for U.S. workers to speak up and demand better trade policies—including demanding U.S. negotiators who are more committed to creating jobs here in the United States than they are to responding to the corporate agenda. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Text TPP to 235246 to join the fight. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>