More Reasons to Tell Our President "No TPP" and "No Fast Track"

[BrotherIvan]

23. But that's not what trade deals do in terms of wages

In simple terms, an American worker making $10.00 an hour cannot compete with a worker making $0.56 an hour. When the cost of labor becomes so low, the other costs associated with offshoring are offset and the company takes the business out of the US.

I know because our company manufactures in the US. We pay our workers above minimum wage along with the cost of goods in the US which are much higher (benefiting those US businesses). We squeak by at about 10%-15% higher retail because our company structure is lean. Our competitors are making stuff in China or Pakistan or Vietnam at 80-90% less cost. And because Americans are broke, the couple extra bucks is too much for them (or they are just used to rock bottom cheap junk which is another subject). We are almost forced to take production overseas to be able to compete. That's the issue.

Does the TPP mean service jobs and others that require physical US presence will be affected, I don't know. Does it mean that the manufacturing base which had just been making a comeback in the US will flee forever? Yes. Further, what that also means is that most of America will eventually be working crappy low-wage service jobs instead of the skilled, higher-paying manufacturing ones.

But the worst part is the power it will give corporations in regulation of labor and the environment, in terms of political power, and the fact that they can be as harmful and negligent as they want in the name of profits. They want to force countries to take products they have banned, such as GMO seed. They will likely be able to get around chemical and mechanical safety laws. The corporations are writing this--in secret--so I have no doubt it is the seventh ring of hell.