From: Tony Zielinski
[tzielinski@wi.rr.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 11:28
AM
To: MacDonald, Terry
Subject: Fw: Fair Trade vs Free
Trade
Ms. McDonald,
Please include this story in the
appropriate file for the committee members to read at their April 5th meeting.
Thanks, Tony
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 10:04 AM
Subject: FW: Fair Trade vs Free Trade
The Need for Fair Trade
Agreements
With the 2008
presidential election campaigns already well underway, there is a lot of talk
about international trade issues. At issue is the need for �fair trade� vs. �free trade.�
Protectionism and
isolationism are not relevant positions. We all purchase imported products
and many Wisconsin companies manufacture exported products. Therefore in an ideal world, an
open exchange of goods and services should enable all nations to prosper and
excel in the economic sectors in which they are the most efficient.
But the fact is, we
do not live in an ideal world and what the United States needs is a �level
playing field.�
The better approach
would be to have �fair trade agreements� that guarantee that workers in the
countries with which we trade has protected rights to organize a union in order
to improve their standard of living and that their governments adhere to
internationally recognized human rights and environmental
standards.
It�s not a matter of imposing
American wage standards on (say) China, but rather a matter of everyone
competing on the basis of international standards that virtually every county in
the world has agree to � but may not enforce. On this more level playing field,
American workers and farmers can compete � and win � as long as we have truly
�fair trade standards.�
As for the current
misguided �free trade� policies of the Bush Administration, which include �Fast
Track Authority,� we have seen stagnant wages and growing job insecurity in
America, following the lost of 3 million manufacturing jobs since
2001.
Many of those job losses are due
to offshore outsourcing, while an increasing number of white-collar
service-sector jobs are also at risk.
During the Bush
years, his �fast track� trade deals have helped produce nearly $3.6 trillion in
cumulative U.S. trade deficits. Soaring trade deficits and their failure to control them
depress U.S. output, employment opportunities and living standards for most
Americans.
All the more reason why we need
to regain our economic footing and strategically step back to assess the
economic impact of �fast track� on working families in the U.S. and
abroad.
Absent a balanced assessment and
change in trade strategy, our country will find itself on the same failed
path.
Fast track trade
agreements also undermine our democratic process because Congress isn�t allowed
to make amendments to any trade agreements and debate is limited to 20
hours.
In fact, the President actually
signs these trade agreements before our Congressional representatives ever have
an opportunity to see them. This is not what our founding fathers intended when they
wrote the Constitution � maintaining the checks and balances between Congress
and the President.
America can not
afford to keep pursuing the trade policies of the Bush Administration that have
undermined protections for the environment, for workers and for our public
health and safety. Therefore rejecting free trade and the fast-track
authority is an essential first step toward turning trade policy from a
disastrous record trade deficit into an ally of middle class working men and
women � the corner stone of America�s prosperity and economic security � �fair
trade.�
Nino
Amato
Wisconsin Fair
Trade Coalition