Obama hopes to change NAFTA for the worse

Mathew Continetti:

A few weeks back, the Washington Post wrote that Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama is running on a "platform of hope and change." Which is true enough--if by "hope and change" the Post actually means "despair and a change for the worse." That is certainly the case, anyway, when it comes to Obama's recent arguments against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and free trade more generally.

Campaigning in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Texas, Obama touted his opposition to NAFTA and pledged to "renegotiate" the 1993 treaty between the United States, Mexico, and Canada that established the largest trading bloc in the world. It was, of course, a president from Obama's party, Bill Clinton, who signed NAFTA into law over opposition from trade unions and protectionists in the Democratic Congress. But that was then. During last week's Democratic presidential debate, Obama went so far as to say that, as president, he would use "the hammer" of a "potential opt-out" to "ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced." His opponent, Hillary Clinton, agreed completely. One of her husband's signal achievements is now just a bag of sand to jettison from her deflating balloon.

Obama claims that NAFTA was "oversold" and vows to "stand firm" against similar agreements that "undermine our economic security." The American worker deserves nothing less, we are told. But the American worker actually deserves a great deal more: He deserves a forthright explanation of the tangible benefits of free trade....

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Carlos Gutierrez gives some facts on the economy since NAFTA was passed:

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With NAFTA, our economy remains the envy of the developed world. In fact, by most indicators, America has outperformed the average of the Group of Seven nations. Since 1993, our economy has grown 54 percent and more than 25 million net jobs have been created. In the 14 years before NAFTA, our nation's average unemployment rate was 7.1 percent. From 1994 to 2007, the average was 5.1 percent. U.S. manufacturing has grown at nearly 4 percent annually since NAFTA was enacted, nearly double that of the previous 14 years.

America is the world's No. 1 exporter, with $1.6 trillion in exports of goods and services last year; 2007 also marked our fourth consecutive year of double-digit export growth. Trade plays a significant role in our nation's economic growth, contributing 26 percent of the increase in real gross domestic product last year. NAFTA also accounted for a third of our overall goods exports in 2007. This trade benefits American workers who make the products we send abroad, American farmers who grow the agricultural exports, and American families and consumers who have more choices in our stores.

And it's not just the United States that has grown -- our neighbors have, too, making North America more competitive against other regions, including Asia. It is no coincidence that Mexico's tremendous advances in recent years -- economically, socially and politically -- occurred after NAFTA was enacted. NAFTA's successes are bipartisan successes. Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush deserve tremendous credit for pushing and enforcing this agreement.

Quitting NAFTA would send economic shock waves throughout the world, and the damage would start here at home....

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The irrational pandering to the union bosses and special interests is against the interests of the rest of the country. It is a very foolish change which will rob many in this country and others of the hope that comes from free trade.

Daniel Griswold makes the case that what Ohio needs is more trade not less.

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Ohio workers would pay a heavy price for pulling out of Nafta. Canada and Mexico are the top two markets for exports from Ohio, accounting for more than half of the state's exports in 2006. According to the Ohio Department of Development, 283,500 workers in the state earn their living in the export sector, with machinery, car parts, aircraft engines and optical/medical equipment among the leading exports. A trade showdown would put those good-paying jobs at risk.

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Obama is wasting his soaring rhetoric on a bad idea which has been demonstrated to be wrong historically and economically and would damage our relations with tow of our best trading partners. It is time for Democrats to quit kowtowing to labor bosses who do not have the interest of most Americans at heart.