A little more than 20 years ago, a presidential candidate named H. Ross Perot gave an eloquent speech against the proposed North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA). He very accurately predicted at the end of his speech that if NAFTA passed, “You will hear a great sucking sound as jobs go south.” You can still find that speech on YouTube. NAFTA had been hyped as a way to create jobs in the U.S., which was a big lie. Hundreds of thousands of jobs went to Mexico. The Whirlpool plant in Fort Smith is one example. NAFTA made it much easier to ship narcotics into the U.S. Products from Mexico and many millions in import taxes and protective tariffs were not collected from the Chinese and Korean products trans-shipped through Mexico; these products had added on Mexican labels.
A new, very secret trade agreement is being developed called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Members of Congress who have been allowed to see parts of it have been sworn to secrecy, but lawyers for 600 large U.S. corporations have been allowed to help write the provisions. One description of TPP is “NAFTA on steroids.” Ron Kirk, the former U.S. trade representative said, “If the contents of the TPP were known, it could not be passed because it would be so unpopular.” We also know that the Obama administration wants no debate on the negative effects of the proposed agreement; rather they are insisting on a fast track, up or down vote by Congress. The result will be much higher costs for medicines, gutting of environmental laws, restrictions on Internet use, loosening financial regulations on banks and hedge funds and allowing lawsuits over proposed losses of profits. TPP will have no benefit for the people of the U.S.
Editor’s Note: Readers can find more information on The Trans-Pacific Partnership at ustr.gov/tpp, among other places.