<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=""><a href="https://www.usw.org/blog/2020/failing-workers-on-trade" class="">https://www.usw.org/blog/2020/failing-workers-on-trade</a><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 style="margin: 0px auto 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 32px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif; line-height: 1; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(108, 108, 108);" class="">Failing Workers On Trade</h1><time datetime="2020-01-23" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1; display: block; color: rgb(152, 152, 152); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Posted: January 23, 2020</time><div class="author cf" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 10px 0px 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;"><figure class="headshot" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 35px; height: 35px; float: left;"><a href="https://www.usw.org/blog/archive?author=thomas-m-conway" title="Tom Conway" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class=""><img alt="Tom Conway" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%;" apple-inline="yes" id="9382062F-68EA-460D-8E12-776DCC124C40" height="50" width="50" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:3FCC5E9E-292C-4CC7-881D-3D13C073BDE4@hsd1.pa.comcast.net." class=""></a></figure><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.1;" class=""><a href="https://www.usw.org/blog/archive?author=thomas-m-conway" title="Tom Conway" class="author-archive" style="margin: 0px auto 3px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; display: block;">Tom Conway</a>USW International President</div></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class=""><br class=""></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/07/06/535823089/after-touting-negotiating-skills-trump-struggles-to-make-a-deal-on-health-care" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">“great negotiator”</a> and author of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">“The Art of the Deal,”</a> promised to use his bargaining skills to help the American worker.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Trump vowed to rewrite trade deals, stanch the offshoring of U.S. jobs and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/us/politics/trump-manufacturing-jobs-2020.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">reinvigorate American manufacturing</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">His behavior tells a different story. Both of the trade deals he produced so far—the original United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the “phase one” agreement with China—failed American workers.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Bad trade cost millions of American jobs. Trump’s brand of deal-making won’t bring them back.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Make no mistake, Trump inherited real trade problems. For more than 20 years, politicians of both parties failed to fix a broken system.<img alt="" style="margin: 5px 4px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid black; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%; float: right;" apple-inline="yes" id="EE31C275-6D53-4E0D-8312-8EBE3FF19FE5" height="100" width="148" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:AC7DBFD5-636C-4F54-84AF-98CD2D9EA658@hsd1.pa.comcast.net." class=""></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Corporations exploited trade agreements to shift family-sustaining manufacturing jobs to <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nafta-at-20-one-million-u_b_4550207?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE4wBZNIrvhUJwskEv9cg33tWv2h2C_VRRpsdCAg0QoV0v-Bn0ktn__1ee3eBflcNeC8Kg5aBJQF8IkDtxpWbLYhbTbPhHBoKyLIB7gR8J5Ej5uqTjloXEhzn2YkS473DFGgki9nI8onpVKyATBOIXUVDmV2j1MjGyjLa7gidjRD" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">Mexico</a>, <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/china-trade-deal-will-not-restore-3-7-million-u-s-jobs-lost-since-china-entered-the-wto-in-2001/" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">China</a>and other countries that pay workers low wages and deny them the protection of labor unions. They made boatloads of money offshoring jobs, but in the process, they robbed U.S. workers of their livelihoods and hollowed out countless American communities, decimating their tax bases <a href="https://www.industryweek.com/talent/article/22028380/the-abandonment-of-small-cities-in-the-rust-belt" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">and exposing them to epidemics of crime and opioids</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Cheating compounded the job losses. China <a href="https://www.americanmanufacturing.org/blog/entry/chinas-overcapacity-creates-a-global-problem" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">subsidizes its industries, manipulates its currency and then floods global markets</a>with cheaply priced goods, severely damaging U.S. manufacturing in steel, aluminum, paper, furniture, glass and other products. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">“Work just started to dwindle,” recalled <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121576791" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">Bill Curtis,</a>who eventually lost his cloth-cutting job at a Lenoir, N.C., furniture factory swept under by cheap Chinese imports.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Trump made fair trade—and standing up to cheaters—a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">He railed against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which empowered corporations to shift <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nafta-at-20-one-million-u_b_4550207" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">more than one million manufacturing jobs to Mexico</a>. He excoriated China for illegal trading practices that <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/china-trade-deal-will-not-restore-3-7-million-u-s-jobs-lost-since-china-entered-the-wto-in-2001/" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">siphoned off more than three million American jobs</a>, and he vowed to stop the bleeding.</p><a name="intro-skip" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class=""></a><span style="color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">The labor movement was prepared to work with him to achieve its long-sought goals. But as president, he let workers down. America needs a comprehensive trade solution, but Trump’s policy lacks vision.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">The omission of enforceable labor standards in the original NAFTA enabled U.S. corporations to move <a href="https://aflcio.org/aboutleadershipstatements/without-fixes-we-must-oppose-new-nafta" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">manufacturing jobs</a> south of the border and take advantage of Mexican workers.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Mexican workers <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/657806248/will-nafta-2-0-really-boost-mexican-wages" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">make a few dollars an hour</a>, much less than their U.S. counterparts, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/1/18523972/may-day-2019-mexico-labor-reform" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">they lack the protection of real labor unions</a>. Companies make deals with protection unions to muzzle complaints about wages and dangerous working conditions. Workers have no voice, and U.S. corporations get rich gaming this system.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">But Trump’s version of the USMCA also lacked specific mechanisms to enforce labor standards. Because he <a href="https://aflcio.org/aboutleadershipstatements/without-fixes-we-must-oppose-new-nafta" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">failed to deliver</a>, labor unions and Democratic members of Congress stepped into the breach and did the hard work of fixing the deal so that it provides real protections for workers and jobs in all three countries covered by the agreement.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Congressional Democrats traveled to San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to visit a Goodyear plant that pays <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/07/democrats-say-goodyear-plant-in-mexico-shows-need-for-labor-reforms-in-new-trade-deal.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">some workers less than $2 an hour, exposed them to hazardous conditions and fired dozens who dared to strike</a>. Goodyear, which laid off workers in Virginia and Alabama while operating the low-cost Mexican plant, refused to let the Congress members through the door.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">But the visit showed the importance of incorporating worker protections into the USMCA. Prominent Democrats, including Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/2/usmca-donald-trump-new-nafta-trade-deal-doubt-demo/" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts</a> and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2019-12-10/pelosi-house-dems-sign-off-on-usmca" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">House Speaker Nancy Pelosi</a>. refused to pass the legislation until it represented a significant improvement over NAFTA.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Under the revised version of the USMCA, Mexico <a href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/chairman-neal-statement-usmca-agreement" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">must follow through with promised labor reforms, such as giving workers the right to organize, or face enforcement actions</a>. When Mexican workers join unions, their wages will rise, giving U.S. employers less incentive to relocate jobs.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">In addition, the revised version makes it easier for the U.S. to initiate complaints against Mexican companies for trade violations, provides for <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/12/how-labor-beat-mexico-on-trade-083701" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">multi-national inspections of Mexican factories</a> and gives the U.S. the authority to impose significant penalties and ultimately <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/us/politics/usmca-trade-deal.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">to block violators’ goods</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">That’s real enforcement.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class=""><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/us/politics/usmca-vote.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">Congress passed</a> the revised version of the USMCA, not Trump’s toothless version. The deal is far from perfect, but it’s a significant <a href="https://m.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2019/usw-supports-adoption-of-improved-usmca" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">improvement</a> over NAFTA.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Trump’s failure to follow through on labor standards in the USMCA showed his murky strategy on trade. His use of tariffs does, too.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">In 2018, he slapped <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/business/trump-tariffs.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">steel and aluminum tariffs</a> on the whole world—alienating global trading partners—when the right approach would have been a strong, surgical strike against China’s dumping. While the tariffs had some positive effects, they’re no substitute for big-picture fixes Trump has yet to deliver.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Last week, Trump unveiled “phase one” of a new trade deal with China. It’s little more than window dressing and an effort to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/business/economy/china-trade-deal.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">defuse bilateral tensions during an election year</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">The deal removes some tariffs on Chinese goods and theoretically commits China to purchasing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/business/economy/china-trade-deal-text.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">$200 billion</a> in pork, jets, energy and other U.S. products. It gives new market access to U.S. financial firms, allowing Wall Street to line its pockets. But it does nothing to address job loss.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">The U.S. lost <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/china-trade-deal-will-not-restore-3-7-million-u-s-jobs-lost-since-china-entered-the-wto-in-2001/" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">3.7 million jobs to China since 2001</a>, 700,000 of them during Trump’s presidency, and the trade deficit actually increased during the first two years of his term.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">The loss of American jobs is no accident. It’s part of China’s policy to destabilize competitors and boost its own power.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">China <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-vows-to-save-its-companies-from-trade-war-pain--with-cash/2018/07/10/ced65a74-841d-11e8-8589-5bb6b89e3772_story.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">subsidizes its industries</a>, giving companies raw materials, land and cash. Then the companies sell their products abroad at prices that U.S. companies—lacking government handouts—can’t match.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">In addition, China allows its industries to <a href="https://americanmanufacturing.org/press-releases/entry/aam-letter-to-the-white-house-china-phase-one-agreement-is-completely-inade?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e94ca806-f3da-4615-b3e5-ca696649cfa3" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">overproduce</a> and flood global markets, further driving down prices with gluts of steel, aluminum and other products. And <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/business/economy/china-currency-manipulator.html" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">it artificially depresses the value of its currency to encourage still more </a>overseas sales.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">These are the major problems that U.S. trade policy must address, but Trump’s phase-one deal doesn’t resolve any of them.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Instead, before announcing the phase one agreement, he backpedaled. He <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/478008-trump-administration-to-remove-designation-of-china-as-currency" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 72, 129); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" class="">rescinded China’s designation as a currency manipulator</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">Now, just like they did with the USMCA, labor unions and Democratic members of Congress must be ready to wade in and demand improvements to the China deal.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(108, 108, 108); font-family: Arimo, helvetica, arial, sanserif;" class="">More jobs will disappear unless Trump pursues a cohesive trade strategy that prioritizes the American worker. Now, he’s just helping to perpetuate the broken system he bitterly criticized.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; " class=""><div class="">Arthur Stamoulis</div><div class="">Citizens Trade Campaign</div><div class="">(202) 494-8826</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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