| Huntsman a Captive of "Free Trade" |
| Posted by Don Kusler (don) on Sep 16 2011 at 4:54 PM |
They Really Said It
In an exchange that formed the basis of a Boston Globe article, GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman claimed—in response to a question from a WFW New Hampshire activist, and in spite of all the evidence to the contrary—that unfair trade deals don’t kill jobs.
Olivia Zink caught up with the former Utah governor at a motorcycle manufacturing plant in Rochester, where she asked him about the threat to domestic jobs, industries, resources and self-government posed by free trade pacts. Huntsman ignored the last three well-documented dangers, but asserted that free trade creates more jobs than it destroys because of increased exports.
What It Really Means
The Government’s own study of a trade deal now pending, with South Korea, determined that it would actually increase the U.S. trade deficit (the difference between how much is imported and exported). Higher trade deficits generally lead to higher unemployment.
Who’s actually freed by “free trade”? Multinational corporations, who are free to chase low wages by continually shifting production to ever more desperate communities; free to destroy indigenous crafts and industries with cookie-cutter globalization; and free to void any national laws that interfere with their ability to make a profit. The victims of free trade include workers, consumer and environmental safety, and democratic government.
What Really Should Be Done
Fair trade, the sensible alternative to “free trade,” promotes widespread prosperity by respecting the rights of workers and local industries; the needs of consumers, and social and natural environments; and the sovereignty of nations the world over.