[Vision2020] When Will "FREE" TRADERS be held accountable?

[Ted Moffett]

All:

Of course we are in a global economy!  Why point out something that I am 
sure Tim and everyone is aware of?

Also, your point about the internet jobs sent to other nations is not quite 
correct.  We would not have to dismantle the internet to stop this business 
practice.  US based companies could be prevented by law from outsourcing 
jobs that use the internet to other nations.  And it can be determined if a 
company is using the internet to outsource jobs to other countries, so such 
a law would be enforceable.

The question is, are we going to adopt trade polices that help US workers to 
maintain the best wages and benefits possible, or are we going to adopt 
trade policies that favor the most profits for multinational corporations 
who could give a hoot about the US worker?

We could also ask to what extent these two agendas are mutually exclusive.

Ted

>>
>> > >  U.S. Trade Deficit Climbs in May
>> > >
>> > >  By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
>> > >  AP Economics Writer
>>      Friday, July 11, 2003
>>
>> > >   America's trade deficit, on track to set an
>> > > all-time high this year, edged up slightly to
>> > $41.84
>> > > billion in May as imports of foreign cars,
>> > > televisions and business equipment all showed big
>> > > gains.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  The Commerce Department reported Friday that the
>> > > May imbalance rose by 0.5 percent from the April
>> > > deficit of $41.65 billion even though U.S. exports
>> > > posted their best gain since January with
>> > shipments
>> > > of American-made autos and auto parts, computer
>> > > chips and industrial machinery all showing gains.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  For the first five months of this year, the U.S.
>> > > trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $492
>> > > billion, well above last year's record high of
>> > $418
>> > > billion.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  Critics point to the soaring deficit as evidence
>> > > that the Bush administration is pursuing a failed
>> > > trade strategy that has furthered the loss of
>> > > millions of American manufacturing jobs as U.S.
>> > > companies have closed their American factories and
>> > > moved production overseas to take advantage of
>> > > cheaper labor.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  The administration, however, insists that the
>> > > rising trade deficit reflects bigger economic
>> > > forces, namely the fact that the U.S. economy,
>> > while
>> > > mired in an anemic economic recovery, is still
>> > > growing faster than the rest of the world.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  Administration officials have been urging
>> > Japanese
>> > > and European authorities to do more to boost their
>> > > growth rates and provide stronger markets for
>> > > American goods.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  Also this spring, the administration made a
>> > subtle
>> > > shift in its policy regarding the dollar,
>> > signaling
>> > > that it did not plan to intervene in currency
>> > > markets to stem the greenback's slide, a position
>> > > American manufacturers had been urging the
>> > > administration to take for years.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  U.S. companies have complained that an overvalued
>> > > dollar was pricing their products out of overseas
>> > > markets and making imported goods cheaper and more
>> > > attractive for U.S. companies.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  The dollar's decline this year did appear to be
>> > > boosting demand for American exports, which rose
>> > to
>> > > $82.05 billion in May, a 0.9 percent rise which
>> > was
>> > > the strongest monthly increase in percentage terms
>> > > since January.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  The increase reflected gains of $117 million in
>> > > sales of autos and auto parts, which rose to $6.76
>> > > billion in May. Other products showing increases
>> > in
>> > > May were exports of industrial machinery, up $101
>> > > million; computer accessories, up $96 million, and
>> > > computer chips, up $50 million.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  These gains offset declines of $9 million in
>> > > exports of farm products, which fell to $4.29
>> > > billion, reflecting a big drop of $177 million in
>> > > shipments of soybeans, which offset gains in
>> > exports
>> > > of corn, meat and poultry and fruit.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  Imports were also up in May, rising by 0.7
>> > percent
>> > > to $123.89 billion. That increase reflected a 4.7
>> > > percent rise in imports of foreign autos and auto
>> > > parts, which increased to $17.67 billion during
>> > the
>> > > month. Imports of business equipment were up by
>> > $75
>> > > million while shipments of televisions and video
>> > > recorders climbed by $69 million.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  Imports of foreign petroleum dropped by 8.3
>> > percent in May to $10.34 billion with the
>>improvement reflecting a decline in crude oil prices
>>to an average of $24.11 per barrel, down from $26.02
>>in April and a high this year of $30.46 set in
>>February. However, the volume of crude oil
>> > imported set a monthly record of 320.5 million
>>barrels as the United States increased its dependence
>>on foreign oil supplies.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >  By country, the United States recorded its
>> > largest deficit with China, an imbalance of $9.86
>>billion,an increase of 4.3 percent from the April
>>level.
>> > The deficit with Japan shrank a sharp 24.8 percent
>>to$4.49 billion in May, the smallest imbalance since
>>  January 1998.
>> > >
>> > >  The deficit with Canada rose 7.2 percent to $4.09
>> > > billion in May while the deficit with Mexico,
>> > > America's other partner in the North American Free
>> > > Trade Agreement, was up 2.3 percent to $3.42
>> > > trillion.
>>
>>

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