Stupak, Taylor, Defazio And Jones Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Repeal NAFTA, Save American Jobs
Press Release
U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) and Congressmen Gene Taylor (D-MS), Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Walter Jones (R-NC) authored and introduced legislation to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and save American manufacturing jobs. The four senior members of the U.S. House of Representatives represent regions of the country hit hard by NAFTA and are spearheading the repeal efforts. They have been joined by 23 of their colleagues in the House who have co-sponsored the legislation.
"I opposed NAFTA in 1993 because it was not in the best interest of Michigan workers," Stupak said. "I remain opposed to NAFTA because it continues to hurt the U.S. economy and put Americans out of work. I am pleased to join my colleagues to propose a repeal of this failed trade policy. NAFTA has failed to deliver the benefits that were promised and has cost Michigan hundreds of thousands of good manufacturing jobs."
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 78 percent of the net job losses under NAFTA were high-paying manufacturing jobs. Since 1993, when NAFTA was passed, nearly 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost. This is in stark contrast to the inaccurate predictions economists made claiming that the United States would run a trade surplus with Mexico of $7 billion to $9 billion within two years and see a net creation of 170,000 jobs in the U.S. economy.
Especially damaging to Michigan, the trade deficit with NAFTA countries can be attributed to the automotive industry. In 1993, the U.S. deficits in automotive goods were $3.6 billion with Mexico and $9.5 billion with Canada. By 2000, those automotive deficits had grown to $24 billion with Mexico and $19.3 billion with Canada.
"With Michigan unemployment at 14.5 percent and the national unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, it is time to repeal the trade agreements that have shrunk our domestic manufacturing base," Stupak said. "NAFTA is clearly an unsustainable policy that has shipped far too many jobs across the border. It is time to say enough is enough and repeal NAFTA."
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