U.S. Trade Agreements and China's Currency
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-10-04/us-trade-agreements-and-chinas-currency
Yesterday President Obama called on Congress to ratify bilateral free-trade agreements between the United States and Korea, Colombia and Panama. Supporters say the deals could be worth billions to our economy. The White House and Congressional negotiators are also working on legislation that offers protections for U.S. workers who have been hurt by foreign competition, and the Senate seems poised to ratchet up pressure on China. Legislation is coming to the floor which would impose new trade sanctions on China in an effort to compensate for the relatively low value of its currency: Join us for a discussion on politics, the U.S. economy and global trade.
Guests
Robert Scott
is an international economist and director of international programs at the Economic Policy Institute.
Elizabeth Williamson
reporter, The Wall Street Journal.
John Murphy
vice president of nternational affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Comments
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Judge Grady's Verdict: All Global Trade Agreements are just Oligarchs' way of pimping out their laborers for the lowest possible price. The same few own and control Chinese industry and banking as used to own and control what was here. (Bank of America may be a flushed goldfish, but yo' Ho-daddy just caught another big one in the Yangtze River.)
Laura Knoy is an excellent guest host. Great topic; informed guests. Thanks.
Bedfellows are certainly not estranged. They are crawling overtop one another
in an attempt for both business parties (Dems and Repubs) to serve Oligarchs in an orgy of American hollowing out and dismantlement.
An immigrant voice calls in: Why we have to pay benefits, minimum wage, retirement? We at a competitive disadvantage. I'm sorry I came here. Can't make big money on US workers.
Poor soul: He's got morality upsidedown.
We sell our products to others, are we putting farmers out of business in the other country. How many jobs do we create, how many jobs?
The U.S. appears to be in a race towards the 'bottom'...
Ross Perot was right, the sucking sound following NAFTA is getting louder every day.
Without Congressional agreement, Pres. Obama could require by executive order that all federal purchases of goods and services be made and/or provided by workers making the US minimum wage. On its face, it would not conflict with WTO trade exclusion, if foreign suppliers raised their wages, but it would remove the big advantage for US companies to manufacture outside of the US.
The recent comment about educational policy vs. trade policy as a solution for retaining manufacturing jobs misses a critical point. Sure, Germany has trade/technical training as a significant component of educational offerings. But here, this role, save for the few "shop" classes at secondary schools, was often supported and offered by the trade unions that backed up the workforce that provided these skilled workers. Think "apprentice", "journeyman", "master". The systematic dismantling and disempowering of trade unions here in the U.S. has put us in this position. Never mind manufacturing jobs; who will be the plumbers and electricians who come to our homes and businesses to maintain critical physical systems? Either trade unions, or a reformed educational system (one that doesn't assume every student can go to college and succeed.
We put ourselves at a huge global disadvantage by taxing the labor on our exports and not taxing the labor on imports. The only way to correct this is to eliminate payroll taxes (social security and medicare) and replace them with a national sales tax or VAT.
I am tired of hearing about companies who "can't find skilled workers", were they hard up enough, they would be interviewing me.
I have a masters in applied mathematics, and four years of factory floor manufacturing experience. I worked for 18 months each in product development and supporting manufacturing quality engineering.
I have been programming computers and microcontrollers for many years.
I can train other employees in the higher end skills in programming and control.
Andrew Boniface
bonifaceaw@snail-mail.net
THIS DISCUSSION OF ETHANOL IS INTERESTING and I probably don't need to lock the capitals. The Model T Ford was designed to operate on ethanol and it took J P Morgan to convert the engine to his prime waste product gasoline.
Ethanol can be produced from alge without any energy consumed by distillation. The alge exhales ethanol and it merely needs to be collected and condensed. The alge grows well in a greenhouse situation and would use a minimal amount of land.
Of course we need to use all our fuels in the most economical way possible, fuel cells for instance but at least ethanol or methanol would provide enough power for us to make the transition and no food needs to be involved. When the price of corn is not high enough farmers simply burn it for fuel, that takes it out of the food stream as well.
any 'engine' which wastes over 80 percent of 'energy' via waste(mostly heat)
is assinine
to continue for generations
not sublime
to expect any change
from the same
insane
3 weeks to homeless vet- million dollars in government funds gone to... hades?
WASTE yeap US meant to say waste !
PS US also with 'job's guy... techie, two languages(more if music and IT included), liked internet PRIOR to introduction of legal 'for profit' use... USed to say 'what a waste' when 'afst and rcappy' become more profitable than 'lifetime warranty'.
PPS for people too(WHAT A WASTE)... although US have been killing each other for centuriea(US gotta eat right?)
This comment is so correct. I have had similar experiences. My undergraduate is in mechanical engineering. My graduate is a JD. I have worked in steel manufacturing, hospital physical plant, and for a contractor in Saudi Arabia engineering upgrades to physical plants. Yet now my experience somehow does not qualify me as skilled labor for high value jobs in Gulf of Mexico. What companies are saying is they can't find skilled workers willing to work for Chinese wages, OR they can't find someone with exactly the same skills and experience of a 30-year company veteran who is retiring. They don't want to spend a penny on training.
BRASILIA -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's government will give a steep tax advantage for vehicles with national content, while discouraging imports of vehicles and parts produced abroad, in an effort to diminish the impact of a weak global market and strong foreign competition.
Government officials Thursday said they would raise the country's IPI industrial products tax on all vehicles by 30 percentage points, but offer a discount for manufacturers that comply with a series of local content and investment criteria.
"The measures we're taking will stimulate national production," said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega. "They'll allow industry that invests and creates jobs to keep growing."
The tax measure will take effect immediately and remain in place until Dec. 2012, but companies will have 60 days to adapt to the new rules.
Government officials said they believed that at least 12 of the country's 15 auto producers would adhere to the new regime.
Brazil is one of the fastest growing economies and is perhaps the most protectionist, yet even though DOW JONES reported it, the WSJ did not include the recent Brazil protectionist measure on it's pages. It should have been headline making front page news. Brazil even pays for part of its social security system through tariffs. China, India, and S. Korea also have protectionist trade policies and they are all experiencing high growth.
@fairtradeisnorth - fair trade means fair for both sides. You're only presenting one side of the argument. That seems to be in vogue these days with the fair trade folks. And on the issue of unfair trade practices, why leave out that following a ratification of KORUS, the US would still impose a 25% tariff on all import light trucks, a classification that includes SUVs, minivans and pick-ups. Americans have been known to buy SUVs and pick-ups, no? How is that not protectionism? Also, though it has little to do with KORUS, how is a 99% tariff on Chinese steel pipes negligible in any discussion on fair trade? What about the 60% tariff on import firearms? What about Bush's 30% tariff on import steel? Should I go and on? And before you get the wrong idea, I'm an American not in the business of import or export but who does care about fair trade. South Korean, Mexican and other farmers do not immolate themselves at WTO meetings because they're bored. They have legitimate, heartbreaking issues which people seem to want to dismiss because it doesn't suit the UAW's self-interested agenda.
I wish the labor unions and the legion of so-called "fair trade" advocates would truly begin advocating fair trade.
I agree-- she knew the topic, got to the nubby spots right away.
The last caller-- the prof who writes about trade and human rights, and how we talk about foreign trade-- I'd love to hear her as a guest on a show.