<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 class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.5pt;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/01/25/trump-team-isnt-negotiating-good-nafta-deal-workers-elizabeth-warren-column/1061937001/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/01/25/trump-team-isnt-negotiating-good-nafta-deal-workers-elizabeth-warren-column/1061937001/</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.5pt;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Elizabeth Warren: Trump team isn't negotiating a good NAFTA deal for workers<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Elizabeth Warren <span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Jan. 25, 2018<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></b></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><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">The evidence is in: Donald Trump is the King of Offshoring. Since Trump promised to stop American job outsourcing, company after company has announced its intent to send more jobs overseas. Over 600 <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/06/26/534365565/hundreds-of-carrier-factory-jobs-to-move-to-mexico" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Indianapolis Carrier</span></a> jobs went to Mexico, along with 300 jobs across town at <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/05/07/trump-rexnord-mexico-jobs/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Rexnord</span></a>, and another 600 at <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mexico-jobs-20161212-story.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Nabisco</span></a>. <a href="http://fox6now.com/2017/06/13/ge-closing-plant-in-waukesha-moving-300-plus-jobs-to-canada-and-workers-arent-happy/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">GE</span></a>. <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2017/07/microsofts_wilsonville_jobs_ar.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Microsoft</span></a>. <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article154829054.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Lowe’s</span></a>. The outsourcing list goes on, and Trump has only made things worse. His administration continues to hand out millions in federal contracting dollars to companies that are sending those American jobs overseas.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are back at the negotiating table this week on the North American Free Trade Agreement (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta/naftas-fate-uncertain-ahead-of-montreal-round-of-talks-idUSKBN1FB27R" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">NAFTA</span></a>). Despite months of talks, so far there has been no progress on the kinds of changes that would help American workers.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">NAFTA has worked amazingly well for corporations, but it has completely failed working families. Since the agreement was signed, the Department of Labor has certified that more than <a href="https://www.citizen.org/trade-adjustment-assistance-database" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">930,000 American workers</span></a> have lost their jobs due to NAFTA. Lower labor and environmental standards in Mexico encouraged companies to ship jobs out of the U.S. Companies also use the threat of offshoring to cut wages and reduce benefits for the jobs that remain in the U.S. It’s long past time to renegotiate this broken deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">But where is the Trump administration? In the first <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/13/news/economy/nafta-negotiations/index.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">five months</span></a> of negotiations, the Trump team has failed to make American jobs a priority. In this latest round of talks that ends Monday, U.S. negotiators must take bold actions that will stop the offshoring of American jobs and put working families in a position to succeed.<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: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">It’s no surprise that NAFTA has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/opinion/trump-trade-nafta.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">bolstered corporate coffers</span></a> while leaving workers behind — it was designed to do exactly that. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/nafta-is-something-to-be-improved-upon-canada-finance-minister.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">24-year-old</span></a> trade deal created <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01/14/canada-sued-investor-state-dispute-ccpa_n_6471460.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">special rights</span></a> exclusively for corporations, included <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/themexicoinstitute/2017/05/08/labor-rights-enforcement-under-nafta-labor-clause-what-comes-next-under-a-potential-renegotiation/#56845ab26059" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">weak labor</span></a> and <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/disadvantages-of-nafta-3306273" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">environmental</span></a>standards, and adopted spineless <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/history-of-nafta-3306272" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">enforcement measures</span></a> that never stood a chance at protecting the interests of workers.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">NAFTA’s disdain for workers shows up in its <a href="https://www.state.gov/s/l/c3439.htm" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Investor-State Dispute Settlement</span></a> (ISDS) mechanism that gives corporations their own special court system. If a U.S. corporation doesn’t like an action taken by a trade partner, it can bring a case before an ISDS panel made up of friendly corporate lawyers to demand restitution.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">This is a special deal: A U.S. company doing business in the U.S. has no access to this special tribunal, but a U.S. company doing business in Mexico or Canada goes straight to the friendly tribunal. It’s no wonder U.S. corporations find investment in other countries so attractive. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">While corporations get special rights, workers are left with the short end of the NAFTA stick. The treaty relegated its labor provisions to a <a href="https://www.dol.gov/ilab/trade/agreements/naalcgd.htm" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">side agreement</span></a>, and even then only offered up vague promises. But it didn’t much matter, because labor promises weren’t going to be enforced anyway. Even if a country clearly violated any labor provision, the agreement made it virtually impossible to bring a successful enforcement action.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Two decades after NAFTA was signed, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nafta-talks-target-stubbornly-low-mexican-wages-1503999002" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Mexican wages</span></a> remain stubbornly low, with the minimum wage still hovering below $5 per day. $100 per week is the high watermark for factory workers. NAFTA has kept Mexican labor standards low, resulting in American companies shipping jobs across the border to make a quick buck at the expense of working families here at home.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">If the Trump negotiators are serious about bringing jobs back to this country, they need to show it. A new NAFTA should eliminate ISDS, adopt strict labor requirements in the main text of the agreement, add strong enforcement measures to police labor violations, and raise wages for all workers. So far, Team Trump has struck out.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">The failure to deliver a worker-friendly NAFTA makeover reflects the same kind of U-turn that Candidate Trump executed once he became President Trump. Candidate Trump promised to Buy American and Hire American; President Trump issued a vague <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-buy-american-hire-american/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">executive order</span></a> before giving billions in new government contracts to firms that are notorious for serial American job outsourcing. Candidate Trump committed to cracking down on <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/donald-trump-reverses-china-currency-manipulator-ex-im-bank-237165" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">currency manipulation</span></a>; President Trump has done a complete reversal, capitulating to countries that harm U.S. workers. And candidate Trump stood before <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/29/a-year-ago-trump-promised-carrier-workers-help-were-still-waiting/?utm_term=.3109810bbf93" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">workers at Carrier</span></a>, assuring them that their jobs would not leave this country. Months later, when Carrier laid off those same employees, President Trump was nowhere to be found.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">And after a year of abandoning working families, Republicans capped it off with the ultimate corporate gift: a trillion-dollar tax giveaway to giant corporations that leaves middle-class families to fend for themselves. That bill changed the rules for taxation of American companies’ foreign profits, giving corporations more financial incentives to send more factories and more jobs overseas. The law “creates a real incentive to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-promised-america-first-would-keep-jobs-here-but-the-tax-plan-might-not/2017/12/15/7b8ed60e-df93-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.feb0ac2232ad&wpisrc=nl_finance202&wpmm=1" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">shift real activity offshore</span></a>,” former Treasury official Steven Shay told The Washington Post. Kimberly Clausing, an expert in taxation of multinationals, said the law’s overall effects would be “unambiguously bad” for workers. Once again, with the King of Offshoring in the White House, Wall Street wins and Main Street loses.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">The administration now has a chance to reverse course and rewrite NAFTA trade rules to help American workers. Candidate Trump promised he would do this. Now it is up to President Trump to follow through. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Elizabeth Warren is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Follow her on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">@SenWarren</span></a>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">You can read diverse opinions from our <a href="http://usatoday.com/reporters/boc.html" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Board of Contributors</span></a> and other writers on the <a href="http://usatoday.com/opinion/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">Opinion front page</span></a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/USATOpinion?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">@USATOpinion</span></a> and in our <a href="https://profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/manage/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(25, 144, 229);" class="">daily Opinion newsletter</span></a>. To respond to a column, submit a comment to <a href="mailto:letters@usatoday.com" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">letters@usatoday.com</a>.</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 52.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""> <o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><br class=""></span></div></div><div class="">
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