Beef Producers Association

Do you agree with 2008 Candidate Obama OR President Obama on Free Trade w/ South Korea?

2008 Candidate Obama
South Korea: (opposed) "While the agreement would lead to a significant increase in wealth for banks, telecommunications firms, and some in corporate agriculture, it fails to ensure that all U.S. products—especially our cars and trucks, but our rice and beef producers as well—receive fair treatment
in that market. Our employers and workers can compete against employers and workers everywhere in the world, but they should not be exposed to competition against governments systematically discriminating against our products."

http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/720

December, 2010 President Obama
"We have to do more to accelerate the economic recovery and create jobs for the millions of Americans who are still looking for work," Obama said as he urged congressional approval of the "landmark trade deal" with South Korea.

The proposal will support "at least" 70,000 new U.S. jobs and "is a win for American workers," Obama said, particularly automakers, manufacturers and farmers.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/12/obama-south-korea-free-trade-deal-will-create-us-jobs/1

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Although the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) projects this will have a small positive impact on the U.S. trade balance, and “minimal or negligible “ impact on U.S. employment, history shows that such trade deals lead to rapidly growing trade deficits and job loss in the United States.

The Charts below compare USITC’s estimates of the impact of the forthcoming free trade agreement with Korea to EPI’s own calculation. Unlike USITC’s forecast of a small positive impact, EPI’s research shows it will increase the U.S. trade deficit with Korea by about $16.7 billion, and displace about 159,000 American jobs within the first seven years after it takes effect.

http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/free_trade_agreement_with_korea_will_cost_u.s._jobs/
http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/free_trade_agreement_with_korea_will_cost_u.s._jobs/
The USITC has a history of vastly underestimating the negative impacts that free trade agreements have on the U.S. economy. In 1999, it estimated that China’s entry into the World Trade Organization would increase the U.S. trade deficit with China by only $1.0 billion, and have no significant impact on U.S. employment. In fact, the U.S. trade deficit with China increased by $185 billion between 2001 (when China entered the WTO) and 2008, and 2.4 million U.S. jobs have been displaced or lost. The U.S. trade deficit with Mexico also rose rapidly after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994.

As a candidate the economy hadn’t yet collapsed. Now, trade deficit or not we are scrambling for any work. That’s what it says to me.