Fighting the Trade War for American Jobs

One of the most amazing things about the trade war we are fighting is that the U. S. government often does not appear to know we are even in a war. But if you go to any manufacturing town in this country, and look at the empty storefronts and the broken down plants, talk to a taxi driver or a Dunkin Donut clerk who used to work in the local factory for triple his current wage, it is clear we are in a war and it is one we are losing.

First, let's be clear. It is not that manufacturing has left the planet earth. That is basically the line of the apologists for our failed trade policy -- that there is some kind of natural shift to a post-manufacturing economy. But that is simply not the case -- it is just that the jobs and the plants have left the United States. We have lost 8 million manufacturing jobs in the last several decades and are now at about 11.7 million. But China has over 100 million people employed in manufacturing. If we had a policy which resulted in recovering even a fraction of these jobs from China we would be showing long term manufacturing job growth, not decline. Similarly, our trade deficit in high technology goods is steadily growing. In 2009 we had a $56 billion trade deficit in these goods, up from a $37 billion deficit in 2006, and a positive balance of $5 billion in 2000. It's not that these goods are not being manufactured any more, it's just that they are not being manufactured here.

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