Korea pact risky for U.S.

The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will lose U.S. jobs and further damage the economy. This a bad deal for working Americans, and our state’s congressional delegation should oppose it. (Yes, YOU, Cathy McMorris Rodgers!)

Just like NAFTA, proponents of the Korea FTA claim it will increase exports and create jobs. But the U.S. International Trade Commission, a federal agency that often overestimates the benefits of potential trade agreements, predicts this pact will increase the U.S. global trade deficit – and the U.S. will lose more jobs than it creates as a result and suggests that the jobs likely to be lost under this agreement are in decent-paying fields like manufacturing/high-tech. These jobs support families and keep money circulating throughout our economy.

The Economic Policy Institute, a D.C.-based think tank, estimates that the Korea FTA will double the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea to nearly $27 billion and cost the U.S. a net 159,000 jobs within just seven years.

The Korea FTA even includes financial services provisions demanded by Wall Street that handcuff the U.S. and Korean governments’ ability to regulate banks/insurance companies and also prevent common-sense capital controls designed to prevent the spread of financial crises.

Christopher Lawrence

Spokane