The Reform Party has made its annual renewal of support for Fair Trade.
Since its founding, the Reform Party has fought to level the playing field for the American industrial sector, labor and communities built on factory jobs. It wishes to do so by creating common sense trade protections that support the American economy.
According to the Reform Party, the recent free trade agreement with Korea shows the effects of free trade with Pacific Nations. Two years after the United States signed a free trade agreement with the nation of Korea, America’s trade deficit with Korea has doubled.
In 1992, the Ross Perot campaign, a direct precursor to the Reform Party campaigned against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). According to government statistics America’s trade deficits have increased due to free trade in other regions. The same data shows that since the start of free trade agreements with NAFTA in 1992, America’s trade deficit rose from 39.2 billion dollars to 559.8 billion in 2011, or an increase of over 1428 percent.
Before the start of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the United States had trade surpluses with most nations involved. Now the United States has trade deficits with all of the nations involved with that treaty except for Panama.
Since the United States trade deficit started in 1975, the number of Americans employed in the manufacturing sector has decreased. Since the 1970s, the number of Americans employed in the manufacturing sector has dropped from twenty five percent of the population to ten percent in 2010. As these manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas, many found work in the service industry, which pays less, and the American dream was put out of reach for many.
The Reform Party calls on Congress to stop outsourcing American production, and create trade policies that help American manufacturing grow. Furthermore the Reform Party calls on Congress and the President of the United States to end the negotations for the Transpacific Partnership.
For more information, it is possible to contact a Reform Party representative at info@reformparty.org or visit the Reform Party website at www.reformparty.org
