A brisk rise in american wages...

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

Fantastic legislation IMO.

I'm all about free trade, but I don't like agreements like that. I'm sure it'll be remembered well, but if you think about how exclusion can piss other allies or possible allies off, it COULD turn bad. Not saying it DID piss anyone off, but making a habit out of excluding people isn't necessarily good foreign relations imo.

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

Fantastic legislation IMO.

We lost 3 million manufacturing jobs, good high-wage, high-benefit jobs, through NAFTA, and the WTO and permanent most favored nation status for China. Those have cost the American people dearly. Millions of Americans have lost good jobs.

DeFAZIO: CAFTA Is Bad For America (01322)

Why anyone would want to give 3 million good paying manufacturing jobs to other countries so other American families can suffer, I mean that's just anti-american and thank god im represented in Congress with people like Rep. Defazio

[Diesel66]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

We lost 3 million manufacturing jobs, good high-wage, high-benefit jobs, through NAFTA, and the WTO and permanent most favored nation status for China. Those have cost the American people dearly. Millions of Americans have lost good jobs.

DeFAZIO: CAFTA Is Bad For America (01322)

Why anyone would want to give 3 million good paying manufacturing jobs to other countries so other American families can suffer, I mean that's just anti-american and thank god im represented in Congress with people like Rep. Defazio

??? every other report I have seen shows the US got the best deal out of NAFTA.


Captalism means not every country/area should produce everything. US loses jobs in some areas and we are gaining manufacturing jobs in other areas. BMW, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai all have plants in the US and many of them are in the south that was short on manufacturing jobs.

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

We lost 3 million manufacturing jobs, good high-wage, high-benefit jobs, through NAFTA, and the WTO and permanent most favored nation status for China. Those have cost the American people dearly. Millions of Americans have lost good jobs.

DeFAZIO: CAFTA Is Bad For America (01322)

Why anyone would want to give 3 million good paying manufacturing jobs to other countries so other American families can suffer, I mean that's just anti-american and thank god im represented in Congress with people like Rep. Defazio

You can't attribute all those jobs to NAFTA

Those jobs were going somewhere, China, India, Somewhere.

The economy is shifting for us just like it shifted from ag decades ago. People will always be getting jobs and losing jobs thats called a dynamic economy.

The economy is doing VERY well and once again unemployment is extremely low. NAFTA or no NAFTA the USA is doing well and NAFTA was a good thing especially in the long run.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

We lost 3 million manufacturing jobs, good high-wage, high-benefit jobs, through NAFTA, and the WTO and permanent most favored nation status for China. Those have cost the American people dearly. Millions of Americans have lost good jobs.

DeFAZIO: CAFTA Is Bad For America (01322)

Why anyone would want to give 3 million good paying manufacturing jobs to other countries so other American families can suffer, I mean that's just anti-american and thank god im represented in Congress with people like Rep. Defazio

Benefits to U.S. Agriculture



In 2005, Canada and Mexico were, respectively, the first and second largest export markets for U.S. agricultural products. Exports to the two markets combined were greater than exports to the next six largest markets.



From 1992-2005, the value of U.S. agricultural exports worldwide climbed 46 percent. Over that same period, U.S. farm and food exports to our two NAFTA partners grew by 128 percent.



Trade with Mexico: From 1999 to 2005, U.S. farm and food exports to Mexico climbed by $3.7 billion to $9.4 billion -- the highest level ever and the fourth record in 5 years under NAFTA. U.S. exports of soybean meal, red meats, dairy products, and poultry meat all set new records in 2005.



In the years immediately prior to NAFTA, U.S. agricultural products lost market share in Mexico as competition for the Mexican market increased. NAFTA reversed this trend. The United States supplied more than 71 percent of Mexico's total agricultural imports in 2005, due in part to the price advantage and preferential access that U.S. products now enjoy. For example, Mexico's imports of U.S. red meat and poultry have grown rapidly, exceeding pre-NAFTA levels and reaching the highest level ever in 2005.



NAFTA kept Mexican markets open to U.S. farm and food products in 1995 during the worst economic crisis in Mexico's modern history. In the wake of the peso devaluation and its aftermath, U.S. agricultural exports dropped by 23 percent that year, but have since surged back setting new annual records. NAFTA cushioned the downturn and helped speed the recovery because of preferential access for U.S. products. In fact, rather than raising import barriers in response to its economic problems, Mexico adhered to NAFTA commitments and continued to reduce tariffs.



Jan. 1, 2005, marked the 12th round of tariff cuts under NAFTA, further opening the market to U.S. products. U.S. commodities now eligible for duty-free access under Mexico's NAFTA TRQ's include corn, dried beans, poultry, animal fats, barley, eggs, and potatoes. All tariffs are to be eliminated by 2008.



Trade with Canada: Canada has been a steadily growing market for U.S. agriculture under the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), with U.S. farm and food exports reaching a record $10.6 billion in 2005, an increase of more than 81 percent since 1990. Fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, snack foods, and other consumer foods account for close to three-fourths of U.S. sales.



U.S. exports of consumer-oriented products to Canada continued to set records in 2005 in virtually every category. Additionally, new value highs were recorded for vegetable oils, planting seeds, and sugars, sweeteners, and beverage bases. With a few exceptions, tariffs not already eliminated dropped to zero on Jan. 1, 1998.



In 1996, the first NAFTA dispute settlement panel reviewed the higher tariffs Canada is applying to its dairy, poultry, egg, barley, and margarine products, which were previously subject to non-tariff barriers before implementation of the Uruguay Round. The panel ruled that Canada's tariff-rate quotas are consistent with NAFTA, and thus do not have to be eliminated.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — FAS Fact Sheets

Wayne says trade pact is good for the U.S. and its neighbors

Although the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is not without its problems, the trade pact has proven to be a boon for the United States and its two NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico, says E. Anthony Wayne, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.

In April 20 congressional testimony, Wayne said that following NAFTA's entry into force in 1994, total merchandise trade between the United States and Canada has grown by over 120 percent, while U.S. trade with Mexico has nearly tripled, from $81.5 billion in 1993 to $235.5 billion in 2003, translating to an average annual growth in trade with Mexico of 11 percent.

Wayne said that about 90 percent of Mexico's exports go to the United States, while 62 percent of Mexico's imported goods come from the United States. Calculations by the International Monetary Fund show that total trade among the three NAFTA countries has more than doubled over the last decade, growing from $306 billion in 1993 to $621 billion in 2002, Wayne told the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on International Economic Policy, Export, and Trade Promotion.

These figures show that NAFTA has promoted export-led growth in North America, Wayne said. He added that the success of the trade pact has "encouraged" the United States to complete other bilateral and multilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs) with countries around the world.

For instance, Wayne said the Bush administration is pursuing the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement, as well as the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and is pursuing an "aggressive" agenda of bilateral FTAs with such countries as Chile, Jordan, Australia, and Singapore. The United States will soon launch new FTAs with Panama, Colombia, and possibly additional countries in the Andean region, Wayne said.

The official said that just as NAFTA has allowed the United States, Canada, and Mexico to integrate their markets, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and see trade expand dramatically, "so we expect to see the same results occur with our multiple bilateral and multilateral FTAs."

Wayne said that pursuing and concluding the FTAs will create "significant openings in markets that are now blocked by obstacles to U.S. exports."

Regarding NAFTA, Wayne said the trade pact also has promoted better security of the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, while mitigating disruptions in the flow of both goods and people.

"This is a significant achievement that demonstrates the advantages of a better, more secure North American trading environment, even as we further our economic integration and national relationships," said Wayne. The continued U.S. collaboration with both Canada and Mexico, he said, provides for legitimate trade and travel while simultaneously improving interdiction and investigation of illicit movements of drugs, people, weapons, cash, or materials that could potentially be used by terrorists to attack the United States.

Wayne said that although the majority of economic barriers among the NAFTA partners have largely been removed, a number of NAFTA trade issues still need to be resolved, particularly concerning agricultural products. On this issue, Wayne said the United States is determined to use "all the resources at its disposal" to effectively remove those lingering obstacles to free trade. Such obstacles, he said, include Mexico's 20 percent tax on products using high-fructose corn syrup, or those non-tariff barriers that "prevent the proper and expeditious exports of U.S. agricultural goods."

Overall, Wayne concluded, NAFTA has been a "resounding success" for all three countries in the trade pact. NAFTA has generated "clear growth" in trade, reduced costs across the board for consumers and businesses, improved the quality of life for citizens of the three signatory countries by providing consumers more and better choices at competitive prices, and "helped foster the democratic and civil society reforms that have transformed Mexico, while serving as a beacon of hope for other developing countries with whom the United States is negotiating FTAs around the world."

Wayne said the changes "wrought by NAFTA in our societies have been profound, and they are still being felt and observed by other countries."

State Dept. Official Hails Benefits From NAFTA

[kinggovernor]

U.S. Economic Growth Stronger in 12 years of NAFTA:
• Jobs. U.S. employment rose from 112.2 million in December 1993 to 134.8 million in Feb
2006, an increase of 22.6 million jobs, or 20.1%. The average unemployment rate was 5.1%
in the period 1994-2005, compared to 7.1% during the period 1982-1993.
• Manufacturing. U.S. industrial production – 78% of which is manufacturing – rose by 49%
between 1993 and 2005, exceeding the 28% increase achieved between 1981 and 1993.
• Compensation. Growth in real compensation for manufacturing workers improved
dramatically. Average real compensation grew at an average annual rate of 2.3% from 1993
to 2005, compared to just 0.4% annually between 1987 (earliest data available) and 1993.
• Productivity. U.S. business sector productivity rose by 2.6% year between 1993 and 2005,
or by a total of 36.2% over the full period. Between 1981 and 1993 the annual rate of
productivity growth was 1.8%, or 24.3% over the full 12 year period.
• Investment. Productive investment, central to rising living standards, has increased.
Even excluding housing, U.S. non-residential fixed, or business, investment has risen by
104% since 1993, compared to a 37% rise between 1981 and 1993.
http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_...le242_9156.pdf

[Thorgrim]

You really think the state department is going to come down on free trade treaties its own government signed?

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

You really think the state department is going to come down on free trade treaties its own government signed?

if it wasn't working out for our benefit yes. Can you provide any information that says America has lost more than it has gained from NAFTA. And none of that "American Family" talking points bullshit