California Jobs Most Vulnerable to Proposed Korea Trade Deal
USITC Find Hundreds of Thousands of California Jobs At Risk
Under Proposed Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Among all states, California has the most jobs to lose under a proposed free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States, according to a study by the U.S. International Trade Commission, the federal agency responsible for predicting economic effects of trade deals. The USITC, which estimates the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement would increase the overall US goods deficit by between $308 and $416 million, says that jobs in certain sectors, such as electronics, metal work, transportation, textiles and apparel are most vulnerable under the FTA.
A total of 459,503 Californian jobs would be at risk if the FTA is passed, which is one reason Democrats George Miller and Linda Sanchez were early opponents of the deal, which is based on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that has cost millions of American jobs. Congressional approval of the pact is expected to hinge greatly on how California’s large delegation to the House of Representative votes, a notion that has opponents of the deal in California taking a stand.
“We’ve seen over 800,000 California jobs lost or displaced since NAFTA,” said Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation. “With the unemployment rate in California at 12.5%, we simply can’t afford another flawed, job-destroying trade deal. Trade agreements should lead to greater economic opportunity, not just for corporations, but for workers. The Korea agreement, like bad trade deals before it, fails that test.”
President Barack Obama is expected to push for the Korea FTA during his State of the Union Speech, despite the fact that he campaigned against it, and made only minor changes in meetings ending in December. The President will likely introduce the FTA to Congress shortly thereafter, despite the stiff congressional opposition it has faced since the Bush administration completed negotiations on the deal in 2007.
“The underlying treaty negotiated by President Bush remains intact and includes some of the most troubling aspects of the NAFTA model,” said Representative Miller in a statement. “The protections for labor standards are too weak (and) the rights granted foreign investors are far too broad and allow foreign corporations to skirt the rule of American law, such as for health and environmental protections.”
The official U.S. government analysis of the Korea FTA predicts that implementation of the Korea trade deal would worsen the U.S. trade deficit in a slew of industries and lead to a decline in domestic production. These industries include ones in which California has more workers than any other state: electronics, apparel and metal products, and other prominent sectors including textiles, motor vehicle, parts, and transportation equipment.
The USITC projects that the U.S. trade deficit in the electronics, apparel and metal products industries will increase by at least $1 billion. The increased deficit – broken down by economic sector – and associated decline in domestic production will put at risk the jobs of the 205,738 electronics workers, 34,719 apparel workers and 74,123 metal products workers in California. Further, the deal risks 75,590 jobs in transportation equipment, 33,690 in auto and auto parts and 30, 805 textiles, bringing the total number of Californian workers in industries put at risk by the FTA to 459,503.
Recent polling data has shown that the vast majority of American voters oppose NAFTA-style trade deals. In October 2010, a NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll found that 69 percent of Americans think that “free trade agreements between the United States and other countries cost the U.S. jobs.” With the U.S. in the worst job situation in decades, analysts say this trend is only likely to intensify.
“It is an interesting situation when Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul and paleoconservatives are calling for the large group of conservative freshman GOP to vote no, and unions and consumer and environmental groups are celebrating that most Democrats will vote no,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “Woe be to the House member who comes out in favor of this NAFTA-style trade deal, because if the last election cycle proved anything, it was that voters care about trade and job offshoring. They oppose anything that would send more jobs overseas – and this deal is definitely another loser for working Americans.”
Since NAFTA was enacted in 1994, California has suffered a net loss of 487,000 manufacturing jobs. Trade with China has also cost U.S jobs. A study published by the Economic Policy Institute found that the rise in the U.S. trade deficit with China since its 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization cost 370,000 jobs in California alone.
“We have nearly two decades of evidence on how NAFTA-style free trade agreements cost jobs and a 12.5% unemployment rate in California,” said Tim Robertson,.Director of the California Fair Trade Coalition. “If an independent federal agency is predicting the Korea FTA will increase the deficit, it’s hard to see why anyone in Congress would vote for it .”
Details on specific instances of trade-related job loss tracked by the Trade Adjustment Assistance program of the U.S. Department of Labor can be found on a searchable database on Public Citizen’s website at http://www.citizen.org/taadatabase.
Job-killing Bush-Obama Korea-U.S. FTA Approaching Vote in Congress
Rally to stop NAFTA-style corporate trade deals
SAN FRANCISCO – As the Obama administration moves closer to introducing the NAFTA-style Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) to Congress, citizens and activists will join Kim Kyung-Ran, Director of External Relations for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, in a rally to oppose the deal.
Representatives from labor, faith, environmental, fair trade, and family farm organizations will call on Minority Leader Pelosi, Congress and President Obama to stop pursuing the KORUS FTA, an agreement expected to cost 159,000 American jobs and grant corporations in each country unprecedented rights to subvert public interest laws. President Obama, who campaigned against free trade agreements, has reached a revised deal with Korea, and is expected to introduce it to Congress for ratification soon.
The KORUS FTA is the Obama administration’s first potential trade agreement, and is a slight modification from the agreement negotiated by President Bush over three years ago. Since then, it has received little support from Congress or the public. In fact, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 69% of Americans believe FTAs cost jobs, while just 17% think they help the American economy. This is not surprising, given that NAFTA-style trade deals have already cost Americans millions of jobs.
WHAT: Rally to oppose the KORUS FTA with speakers from across civil society with banners, signs, and Korean-American drummers.
WHO:
- Kim Kyung-Ran, Director of External Relations, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
- Howard Wallace, Vice President of San Francisco Labor Council
- Frank Martin Del Campo, President, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
- Larry Wing, President, Air Transit Employees, Local Lodge 1781, IAM
- Christine Ahn, Korean Americans for Fair Trade
- Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute
- Victor Menotti, Executive Director, International Forum on Globalization
- Tim Robertson, Director, California Fair Trade Coalition
WHEN: Friday, January 14th, 2011. 12:00 PM PST
WHERE: Federal Building Annex. 90 7th St. (7th and Mission), San Francisco
WHY: To call on Minority Leader Pelosi to join with the majority of Americans in opposing the job-killing NAFTA-style KORUS FTA, which puts corporate profit over worker rights, environmental regulations, food safety, human rights and much more.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations passed through California in June 2010, and the CFTC was there to “welcome” trade ministers from around the Pacific Rim, call for trade reform!
During the week of June 14th, trade ministers from around the world converged on San Francisco to negotiatiate a trade partnership with Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, initiated by the Bush Administration, are the first trade negotiations joined by the Obama administration. Therefor, the TPP is a critical venue for the administration to create and implement a new U.S. trade agreement model to replace the failed Bush-NAFTA model. The CFTC took to the streets to remind President Obama of his promises of trade reform, and amplify the voices of civil society who are seeking a New Deal or No Deal on trade.
Check our events and press pages to see what happened!
For more information on the TPP, check out the Citizens Trade Campaign and Public Citizen Global Trade Watch. Congressmen Garamendi and Miller Joins CFTC to announce their cosponsorship of the TRADE Act!
For more information on the TRADE Act, please click here.
Past Events:
CFTC BRINGS CIVIL SOCIETY TOGETHER TO PROTEST THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
As the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations came to San Francisco on June 14th 2010, the California Fair Trade Coalition rallied to remind President Obama of his campaign promises of trade reform and ensure that with the TPP, it’s a NEW DEAL or NO DEAL! The rally began at St. Patrick’s Church and was followed by a march to the site of the negotiation, where we delivered our demands. Speakers included: Art Pulaski, Ex. Secretary Treasurer, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; Carl Pope, Chairman, Sierra Club; Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor, Richmond; Ross Mirkarimi, Supervisor, San Francisco; Tim Paulson, Executive Director, San Francisco Labor Council; Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute; Victor Menotti, Executive Director, International Forum on Globalization; Zeke Grader, Executive Director, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations; Tim Robertson, Executive Director, California Fair Trade Coalition.
CFTC AND GLOBAL EXCHANGE HOST FORUM OF SCHOLARS TO DISCUSS TPP
On Monday, June 14, the California Fair Trade Coalition and Global Exchange hosted a forum of experts from across civil society to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership, occuring at the same time. Trade ministers from around the world were San Francisco to attempt to negotiatie a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), marking the defining moment on U.S. trade policy for the Obama Administration. The choice is stark: a new kind of trade agreement that lifts standards around the world or the expansion of NAFTA-style agreements to Asia and beyond. If the TPP is successfully negotiated, we will have an established Obama trade policy for years to come, for ill or for good. Experts included: Kevin Danaher, Global Exchange, moderator;Lori Wallach, Public Citizen-Global Trade Watch; Victor Menotti, International Forum on Globalization; Bill Hing, University of San Francisco School of Law; Alberto Saldamando, International Indian Treaties Council; Tim Robertson, California Fair Trade Coalition.
REPS. GEORGE MILLER AND JOHN GARAMENDI JOIN CFTC TO COSPONSOR TRADE ACT
On January 10th 2010, Reps. Miller and Garamendi joined the CFTC and its allies for a press conference in Concord to announce that they would both cosponser the 2009 Trade, Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act (TRADE). Here is a link to the video of the event. Also speaking were Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation; Gary Allen, General Vice President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Western Territory; Rome Aloise, President of Joint Council 7 and Western Region Vice President for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Lynne McBride, Executive Director of the California Farmers Union; Ray Ortiz, Coast Committeeman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union; Pam Aguilar, Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Contra Costa Central Labor Council; and Tim Robertson, director of the California Fair Trade Coalition.
CFTC TESTIFIES TO STATE SENATE PANEL ON FREE TRADE’S ROLE IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING
In a hearing hosted by Senate Pro Tempore Darrel Steinberg, Senator Ellen Corbet, and Senator Mark Desaulnier, the CFTC joined other non-profit speaker by testifying to the prevalence of circumstances behind human trafficking in California. In particular, Free Trade agreements lead to gross income inequalities that leave people vulnerable to human traffickers.
Thanks in part to the testimony of the CFTC, the Senators are even more strongly committed to passing S.B. 657, a bill that would require large retailers to identify and erradicate human trafficking in their supply chains.
TEN YEARS: FROM SEATTLE TO COPENHAGEN
On November 23rd 2009, ten years after the Battle for Seattle, global justice networks are morphing into new movements to turn crises like global climate change into opportunities for political transformation. The CFTC joined this public discussion hosted by the International Forum on Globalization to discuss how responsible trade policy is inseperable from climate change solutions. With Jerry Mander, Victor Menottii, and Claire Greensfelder, IFG; Anuradha Mittal, Oakland Institute; Paul Hawken, David Solnit and Rebecca Solnit, local author-activists; Jia Ching Chen, youth-of-color organizer; Kevin Danaher, Global Exchange, Tim Robertson, California Fair Trade Coalition