Inquiry over U.S. trade deals
Regarding “Trump’s free trade puzzler” (Nov. 23): It is common wisdom that the North American Free Trade Agreement — and the World Trade Organization, vis-a-vis China — are the sole cause of the decline in U.S. manufacturing and other jobs.
I am no free trade expert, but I skimmed over the text of the NAFTA agreement myself, and there is nothing I could find that particularly advantages Mexico. Instead, it eliminates the tariff protection of Mexico’s auto industry from foreign competition, trade in agriculture, and lays out equal treatment of domestically owned and foreign-owned businesses and services.
What Donald Trump would specifically renegotiate I was unable to find. If there is something I overlooked, I would like to know what it is. There are things I did learn from other sources, however. U.S. foreign direct investment in China was $65.8 billion in 2014. In Mexico, U.S. foreign direct investment was $107.8 billion that year.
To my knowledge, there is no law or constitutional provision that would prevent U.S. corporations seeking the lowest-wage places on Earth to build new factories and assembly facilities, access suppliers, or develop technology ventures where a capable workforce exists. How does Trump intend to change that? Common wisdom so very often lacks wisdom.
Pat Willard, Redwood City