NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | May 15, 2015 | PAGE 11
...Obama stumps for super-sized NAFTA, met by protesters
locked out of five years of super-
secret negotiations over a 12-na-
tion Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP).
In recent weeks, Obama has
been on the defense in Portland
and around the country, trying to
neutralize opposition to the su-
per-sized NAFTA. On this issue,
he is showing a willingness to
fight that he has never previ-
ously seen on any issue in six
years. Even on ObamaCare, the
president just laid out guidelines
and asked Congress to send him
a bill. But for the TPP, Obama is
twisting arms, making phone
calls, and showing up on Ore-
gon’s doorstep with a hard sell.
Nike was a fitting locale for
the TPP sales pitch: Founder
Phil Knight wrote his Stanford
masters thesis on outsourcing,
and his company pioneered the
strategy of off-shoring manufac-
turing to Asia. It even outsourced
its outsourcing, hiring third par-
ties to manage overseas produc-
tion. And in recent years, Nike
shifted to Vietnam when wages
got too high in China.
Bear that in mind when eval-
uating the company’s startling
announcement that if the TPP is
approved, Nike will bring some
manufacturing jobs back to the
United States. As a company
press release explained on the
morning of the Obama visit:
“Footwear tariff relief would al-
low Nike to accelerate develop-
ment of new advanced manufac-
turing methods and a domestic
supply chain to support U.S.
based manufacturing.”
That doesn’t make any sense.
If we lower tariffs to make it
cheaper for Nike to import shoes
from overseas, that will “allow”
them to make shoes in the
United States? Like the jobs
promises made for NAFTA, it’s
a non-binding pledge.
Following a welcome hug
from CEO Mark Parker (2014
salary: $14.7 million), Obama
told some whoppers of his own
in order to sell the super-secret
Trans-Pacific Partnership, which
even members of Congress can’t
get copies of. Here are six false
statements the president made at
Nike World Headquarters:
Obama: “You got some crit-
ics saying … it’s a secret deal,
people don’t know what’s in it.
This is not true.”
Actually, it is true. Several
hundred American corporate
lawyers have full access to the
draft negotiating texts—the texts
that U.S. trade negotiators are
pushing other countries to agree
to in the U.S.-led talks. But the
texts are top secret for everyone
else: They’re classified docu-
ments that are supposed to be
kept secret up to four years after
the negotiations conclude. Even
members of Congress may only
view the documents in a special
room in the Capitol, and may not
take photos or tell anyone what
they see. Everything known
about the TPP so far has come
from a series of leaks publicized
on WikiLeaks.
Obama: “Critics warn that
parts of this deal would under-
mine American regulation,
food safety, worker safety, even
financial regulation. They’re
making this stuff up.”
Actually they’re not. The TPP
Investment chapter that was
leaked to WikiLeaks shows a
plan to let foreign investors sue
governments and obtain tax-
Photo by Russell Sanders, Oregon AFL-CIO
From Page 1
A throng of protesters greeted President Obama May 7 outside the Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland,
where he spoke at a Democratic Party fundraiser.
payer compensation for laws
that reduce potential profits. As
the New York Times reported
March 25, “companies and in-
vestors would be empowered to
challenge regulations, rules,
government actions and court
rulings—federal, state or local
—before tribunals organized un-
der the World Bank or the
United Nations,” if those rules
“undermine their investment
‘expectations’ and hurt their
business.”
Obama: “98 percent of ex-
porters are small businesses.”
Though his own trade office
states that “small and medium-
sized businesses” (up to 250 em-
ployees) make up 98 percent of
the exporters, these account for
less than a third of the exports.
Overwhelmingly, foreign trade
is for big businesses, like Nike.
Obama: “So listen, I know a
lot of folks are skeptical about
trade. Past trade deals didn’t
always live up to the hype.”
Actually, they never lived up
to the hype. Nearly a dozen
NAFTA-style trade deals have
been hyped as job creators. But
trade deficits with Mexico, Ko-
rea, and nearly every other trade
partner actually increased after
their trade agreements took ef-
fect. Typically, exports to those
trading partners increased, but
imports increased even more.
When imports outweigh exports,
a country loses jobs, and goes
deeper in debt.
Obama: “When I took of-
fice, I decided we could rethink
the way we do trade in a way
that actually works for working
Americans. … If I didn’t think
this was the right thing to do
for working families, I would
not be fighting for it. If any
agreement undercuts working
families, I won’t sign it.”
“Trust me” is the message.
But actual working Americans
would do well to remember the
expression, “fool me once,
shame on you; fool me twice,
shame on me.” During Obama’s
2008 presidential campaign, dur-
ing which he told labor audi-
ences he’d renegotiate NAFTA,
his top campaign aide told the
Canadian foreign ministry not to
worry because he was only say-
ing that to get elected. Once in
the White House, Obama suc-
ceeded in pushing Congress to
ratify agreements with Korea,
Colombia, and Panama that had
been negotiated by George W.
Bush. And he continued the TPP
talks that were begun under the
previous administration.
Obama: “NAFTA was
passed 20 years ago. That was
a different agreement. This
agreement actually fixes some
of what was wrong with
NAFTA by making labor and
environmental provisions ac-
tually enforceable.”
NAFTA had side agreements
with meaningless labor and envi-
ronmental measures. With TPP,
the meaningless measures are in-
side the agreement. How mean-
ingless? The TPP environment
chapter leaked in early 2014
would set up an elaborate
process for consultation and ar-
bitration, but without any penalty
if the government doesn’t imple-
ment the agreed-upon action
plan. The labor provisions
haven’t been leaked, but in all
likelihood they’re equally weak.
U.S. trade deficit
jumps to $51.4
billion, six-year high
The U.S. trade deficit in March
rose to $51.4 billion, the largest
trade gap since October 2008
and more than 43 percent higher
than in February, the Commerce
Department reported May 4.
Exports were up 0.9 percent
to $187.8 billion, while imports
increased 7.7 percent to $239.2
billion.
For March, the deficit with
China surged 38.7 percent to
$31.2 billion. The U.S. trade
deficit with China is the largest
for any country and is on track
to set another record this year.