Fair Trader

I am not a free trader. Didn’t your grandmother tell you that nothing in life is free? Well, in international trade the truth could not be any clearer. Consider 2006 Free Trade:

* $764 B Trade Deficit
* $536 B Trade Deficit for Manufacturers
* $145 B Trade Deficit in Automobiles, Automobile parts and Trucks
* $233 B Trade Deficit with China
* $88 B Trade Deficit with Japan
* $60 B Trade Deficit with Mexico
* Mexico exported 900,000 vehicles to the US, while the US exported only 600,000 vehicles worldwide

What was the first law passed by Congress in 1789 and proudly signed by President George Washington?

The Tariff Act of 1789

Free Trade has destroyed our manufacturing base. We must have a manufacturing sector that is vibrant. We must produce automobiles, textiles, furniture, electronics, machinery and tools. The list goes on and on. Government should make efforts to restrain the forces of globalization.

“Under Free Trade, the trader is the master and the producer is the slave. Protection is but the law of nature, of self-preservation, of self-development, of securing the highest and best destiny of the race of man.”

President William McKinley

In South Carolina (SC) as in many other parts of the United States (US), manufacturing has been hit hard by free trade. A SC worker who made $12-$16 per hour in a mill job can now find an $8 per hour job at Wal-Mart or less at a fast food chain restaurant. We must be concerned about underemployment in addition to unemployment. Yes, the mill worker is employed and off of the unemployment rolls but now earns 57% of last year’s income.

While blue-collar employees have been hard hit, white-collar employees are starting to feel the impact of free trade and outsourcing. Today, medicine, law, engineering, architecture, accounting, auditing and simple bookkeeping can be outsourced. An average US accountant makes between $3000-$4000 per month while their counterpart in India makes only $300-$400 per month. Where could H&R Block turn for their accounting needs? The credit card companies have already turned to India for their call centers.

History will repeat itself. We have to look no further than the history of Great Britain and the history of the British Empire. In 1860, Britain’s economy led the world as a free trader; however, by the early 20th century, the US had surpassed the British economy based on a high-tariff US economy. Britain’s economy was even passed by a protectionist country that did not even exist in 1871- Germany.

Research and development are part of manufacturing. Manufacturing produces new industries. From the copy machine came the fax machine. From the cell phone came the MP3 players. From the radio came the television. Manufacturing outpaces the wage scales of the service industry.

Free trade is taking the American work ethic and the American might from our country. We are becoming less and less self-reliant and more and more dependent upon other nations to provide the necessities of life. Guns, ammunition, vehicles and even the clothes of our military are coming from other countries. What will the soldier of tomorrow look like when we send him to fight in a war, after China cuts us off? Will he be walking, naked, with a stick and a stone?

All of our trade policies have to be addressed and reanalyzed. NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO need to go away. There are more important things than foreign trade: Patriotism, Security and Sovereignty. The Founding Fathers understood this. Washington, Jefferson and Madison never opposed trade, however trade was on OUR terms to the benefit of the American citizen. The American people were what was important and should be again.