NAFTA wisdom

Houston Chronicle ^ | 23 Oct 2008 | Houston Chronicle Editorial

[BGHater]

Mexico has offered the U.S. an opportunity to hold it to its word on labor, trade and immigration.

The nation's 44th president will be welcomed to the Oval Office by a willing and able partner in Mexico. But that country's leadership will also greet the new commander in chief with a blunt message on trade and, by inference, immigration: Don't mess with NAFTA.

The Mexicans deserve a careful hearing on this; NAFTA merits a less cavalier and more focused approach than generally shown on the presidential campaign trail. Despite the sniping of critics on both the left and right, NAFTA has brought proven benefits across North America.

Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement on short notice would throw a "monkey wrench" into North America's economic works, Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to Washington, told the Chronicle editorial board on a Houston visit Tuesday. Sarukhan also expressed skepticism that immigration would be solved in the first 100 days of a new U.S. administration but voiced hope that a grand bargain could be retooled as soon as the second year. He called on the two countries to "play chess rather than checkers" and to think strategically on trade and immigration.

So what does strategic thinking look like? It could begin with more straight talk, and Sarukhan supplied some during his Chronicle visit.

The senior diplomat said Mexico's "end game" on immigration is for every Mexican citizen who enters this country to arrive with papers through a designated port of entry. He said his country is "not interested in dumping labor here," and that Mexico's anticipated 7 percent growth rate will require that the country's human capital be carefully husbanded.

[VR-21]

Any outcome of the election’s going to prove a disaster with regard to immigration, legal and otherwise.

[raybbr]

Obviously, U.S. policymakers ought never be compelled to take any country solely at its word. But Mexico's forthright declarations give policymakers the opportunity to hold our southern neighbor to its word on important and incendiary matters of mutual interest.

But wait. Here it is. The name calling: Mexico's declarations deserve a particular listen from those with big megaphones in this country who are overly busy preaching the gospels of fear and xenophobia.

So, patriotism is being turned into a racial slur. This idiotic article actually contradicts itself and then calls those of us who oppose NAFTA racists.

[Murp]

The economic crisis we face today dates from NAFTA and the outsourcing of jobs. Easy credit replaced good paying jobs and the resulting debt has come home to roost. There has never been, nor can there ever be “free trade” when the marginal cost of labor is basically undefinable due to the low wages paid by one of the trading partners. When jobs leave, the standard of living MUST go down. Ours has. The United States can no longer help the rest of the world raise their standard of living. We simply cannot consume their goods because we don’t have any money left. Ross Perot was right. History will vindicate him.

[bert]

That post is a hodgepodge of drivel mixed with rumor and spite.

[american colleen]

"Ross Perot was right"

I remember the 'giant sucking sound' and I knew he was right too. The funny thing is, Perot Industries/Systems uses offshore labor these days. $$$ trumps patriotism.

[Oatka]

Ross Perot was right. History will vindicate him.

One of Perot's ads really hit me. He showed a picture of a Ford plant in Mexico and asked, "What's wrong with this picture?" Ole Hawkeye didn't see anything until he pointed out that there were no parking lots - the people who made the autos (or most anything else) couldn't afford them. In this case they were bused in from nearby barrios set up to house them.

A large portion of the middle class was wiped out, as you say, supplanted by the new lower-wage folks who tried to maintain their standard of living through debt.

"Free Trade" and "Global Competition", as practiced by the current crowd are nothing more that euphemisms for "A Race to the Bottom". Whether we win that race or not, we're gonna be getting a good view of it soon.