Congress to Begin Hammering the Final Nail in the Coffin

by: Sam Williford on May 5, 2011 - 9:04am
Economy in Crisis

According to The Hill, KORUS will begin to move through Congress as soon as today, becoming the final nail in the coffin of the American economy.

We are being promised that KORUS will create more American exports, but in reality it will only export American jobs. According to the Economic Policy Institute's estimates, in the first seven years of the agreement, the KORUS FTA could cost as many as 159,000 American jobs and increase our trade deficit by $16.7 billion. Even the U.S. International Trade Commission estimates KORUS will provide no net job growth. The 70,000 jobs promised by Obama fail to consider the hundreds of thousands of jobs that will be lost because of this deal.

Even worse, more of our sovereignty and rights will be given away to foreign nations and multinational corporations. Any law limiting the profitability of Korean companies can be challenged, and U.S. taxpayers can be sued for any losses sustained by Korean companies. The deal prevents the government from regulating banking, making the odds of another financial crisis even more likely, and also prevents the U.S. government from stopping foreign takeovers of U.S. businesses.

Despite everything we are giving up, we didn't even bother to address any meaningful issues with South Korea that will help America. We did nothing about preventing Korean currency manipulation. We did nothing to offset the Korean value-added tax. We did virtually nothing to remove the non-tariff barriers to trade that make it nearly impossible for American businesses to sell goods to Korea. Other than a few more cars every year, which will do little to change the vast imbalance of trade on that front (in 2007 alone, Korea sold us 615,000 cars, while we only sent them 7,000), this deal will not seriously open up the Korean market.

Also on the table are “free” trade agreements with Colombia and Panama which add more trouble to the mix. With recent concerns about corporate taxation and reducing our budget deficit, it is insensible to make a trade deal with one of the world's largest tax havens. In Columbia, union leaders are killed on a regular basis, and any talk of worker's rights will land you in prison. Not to mention the fact that both nations have serious problems with the trade of illegal narcotics and other drugs.

Economists and politicians continue to only talk about the benefits of these deals and somehow neglect to mention the costs. While they will help increase America's exports slightly, we will be swamped with a tsunami of imports that will cost America. Other aforementioned issues with these deals threaten our sovereignty and culture.

However, none of this madness seems to phase some people. “I hope by early summer that we can begin to see movement on all three,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said.

Clearly, this can only mean our leaders are not reading what they are signing, or they are working for the best interest of multinational corporations, special interest groups or foreign powers. Opposition to this bill is now critically necessary if we have any hope of getting the economy back on track. Tell your friends, your family, your elected officials, and anyone willing to listen about why we must oppose this flawed trade deal!