THE NAFTA PLAYING FIELD
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Cost of Labor
USA
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
UNIONS
Minimum Wage
Social Security
Benefit Plans
Workers Comp. 3rd World Countries
OSHA $$$
FDA Slave labor/wages
CPSC Child labor/wages
EPA Few regulations
Free Trade is NOT free when the playing field is unequal.
>> Free Trade is NOT free when the playing field is unequal.<<
Well, you are never going to prevent other countries from having lower wages. So you can have varients on three choices:
1. Have trade with them with no agreement
2. Put up trade barriers to stop trade
3. Have trade with them in an agreement that forces as much of the same regulatory burden on them as there is on us.
NAFTA, President Reagan’s dream is the best deal we could get. Free Trade agreements are like democracy - for all its faults, they are still better than the alternatives.