Oppose the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement

Floor Speech

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the proposed South Korea trade deal is the largest NAFTA-style trade agreement proposed in 15 years. Some people in Washington, including President Obama, support this agreement. Congress should not. Most importantly, this ``NAFTA''-Korea deal will result in more job loss across countless communities in our country.

The U.S. International Trade Commission studied this agreement and determined that it will be a net job loser for our country, just like the NAFTA deal was, just like the China deal was, just like all the failed nonreciprocal trade deals our Nation has negotiated over the last 25 years. Yes, a handful of companies will come out ahead, and they have a lot of power in Washington, but, as a whole, our country loses.

We have heard a lot about deficits lately. This deal with the Koreans will only put us deeper in the hole. Why would Congress do this again to the American people and to the American economy? Last year, the United States ran up another half-trillion-dollar trade deficit with the world, and this past quarter, one of the largest in history. Both American and Korean estimates predict that this deal will only add to our deficit.

These NAFTA-type trade deals translate into net job loss. Even the President doesn't claim that the deal will create new jobs. That is because it won't. In fact, it will cost jobs.

America needs trade reciprocity. We need balance, at a minimum, where our exports balance our imports and more hopefully exceed our imports. We need to make goods in America again, not outsource more jobs. It is obvious to everyone we have a job crisis in America. Across our economy, the real rate of unemployment and underemployment is over 17 percent.

This agreement, again, will negatively impact employment. In my district alone, the agreement threatens thousands of jobs. Why would America do this again to our people? More outsourcing, more job loss.

My district is at the center of the automotive sector, and our companies supply manufacturers from Alabama to Detroit to New Jersey to California. This deal is bad for the entire U.S. automotive sector, yes, the entire automotive sector.

In December, the administration negotiated with the Korean government a supplemental agreement on the automotive sector, and this side deal was supposed to ensure fairness for our auto companies. But it simply leaves too many unresolved concerns still on the table. And it doesn't provide reciprocity. There is no threshold measure that if we take half a million Korean cars, which we already do, and they only take 6,000 of ours, which is what is going on right now, that they have any requirement at all to actually increase imports. We ought to fix what is wrong with the existing system, rather than trade away more of our economic substance.

There is also a strange logic that we somehow level the playing field by allowing the South Korean government to subject our cars to additional regulations within 4 year. And importantly, there is no threshold measure that we actually are balancing the huge trade deficit we already have with that nation.

There's another loophole. The cars don't really have to be made in South Korea. Nearly two-thirds of the actual content can come from, guess where? Communist China and other countries that are relentlessly engaged in predatory and illegal trading practices is not a prescription for liberty.

The automotive sector isn't the only industry that is at risk. Multiple sectors will be impacted, including textiles, electronics, and metal products. And that's just in manufacturing. Beef producers better pay attention because they're going to lose under this deal as well.

I look forward to the day when this President, or any President, submits a trade agreement that will actually create new employment opportunities across our country. We surely need the jobs. Yes, trade can help fuel economic growth, but we need agreements that yield reciprocity and put America on a level trade playing field. NAFTA-styled Korean free trade agreements simply don't meet that test. This deal is over 400 pages long--and that's without the annexes to the agreement. The American people should read it. And so should Congress.

America needs jobs here at home, not more job outsourcing. And surely not more trade deficits. We need reciprocity, and it would be the first time in a quarter century. That should be our target, not more job loss in America.

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