Judd Gregg, total free trader wingnut, to head Commerce Dept (International Trade Administration).

[redstate_democrat]

Republicans are losing it over the 'Buy American" clause in the stimulus bill because they're worried about so-called trade wars erupting. Is that a bad thing, when in all honesty, America is losing the so-called war anyway?

Top Republican: Scrap 'Buy American' Stimulus Clause

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Senate should strip a "Buy American" clause from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, the chamber's top Republican said Monday amid anger at the restriction from US allies.

...

McConnell's comments came as Canada Trade Minister Stockwell Day warned that US protectionism "can only trigger retaliatory action" as he urged Obama to fight the provision.

The Republican leader also urged Obama to lean on his Democratic allies in the US Congress to accept or at least accommodate Republican ideas for how best to pull the US economy out of a paralyzing recession.

"I hope he can get through to them that the way to build this package is, indeed, to do it on a bipartisan basis, which doesn't mean just talking to us, but including ideas that we think would work," said McConnell.

...

"Nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing. You know, we're not trying to prevent a package from passing. We're trying to reform it -- reformulate it -- put it in a different place," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/uspoliticseconomytrademcconnell;_ylt=Am2f5hQkSiG_YWouSc5aIjDZn414

In November 2008, America was again on the losing end of the trade battle. Are trade deficit with China just for the month of November was bigger than our trade surplus with the Netherlands for the entire year of 2008, the trade partner we have with our biggest trade surplus. So our trade deficit with China in one month ate up our entire trading surplus with the Netherlands for the entire year.



http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/top/dst/2008/11/deficit.html



http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/top/dst/2008/11/surplus.html

Who would really be shit out of luck if they didn't have access to the United State's market? Canada's Trade Minister is bitching about "protectionism", but look at the trade deficit we have with them. 71 Billion Dollar Trade Deficit as of November. Obviously, that imbalance demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the so-called "free market" system we're supposed to be operating within. Then look at China. They manipulate their currency to artificially inflate their exports and reduce their imports. They also, along with other countries, put up ridiculous trade barriers and undermine the American economy by serving as tax shelters and slave plantations for American companies.


How can we fix this problem? We can actually have the ITA address the issues surrounding some of these unfair trade barriers. The International Trade Administration is a department within the Commerce Department, the department President Obama just nominated a Republican to head. This Republican, Judd Gregg is a fervent free trader. He wrote this piece back in April of last year defending the Columbia Free Trade Agreement, an agreement Democrats are against.

Judd Gregg: Spiking Colombia Free Trade Agreement hurts us, them

By SEN. JUDD GREGG

Thursday, Apr. 17, 2008

LAST WEEK, the House of Representatives voted 224-195 to change the "fast track" rules for consideration of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for Colombia. In a shortsighted and reckless move, the Democrat-controlled House unilaterally altered long-standing legislative procedures that required a vote on the FTA within 90 days. Instead of a simple yes or no vote, the House postponed FTA consideration indefinitely.

...

The House vote sends a message to the people of Colombia that America is a fair-weather friend. And it sends a message to the rest of the world that the United States can no longer be trusted on trade negotiations.

While some may characterize the House's action as protectionism, the reality is far worse. In this election year, the vote is nothing less than political pandering to single-issue advocates, particularly labor.

Not surprisingly, the AFL-CIO quickly endorsed the speaker's unilateral rule change and stated that no vote on the FTA should occur "until Colombia ends the violence against trade unions and assures they can exercise their basic rights without fear."

It is no secret that House Democrats and labor are no friends to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, under whose popular leadership remarkable progress in security and economic development has been achieved. They ignore improvements noted in the State Department's 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights, including a 34 percent decrease in massacres and a 20 percent decrease in kidnapping. They turn a tin ear to decreases in the murder rate of trade unionists (largely by paramilitary and other illegal groups), down from 60 to 26, by one estimate.

...

According to the Department of Commerce, 91 percent of imports from Colombia in 2007 entered the United States duty-free, while U.S. exports to Colombia over that same period were subject to high tariffs. The secretary of commerce indicated that in the 500 days since the FTA was signed, U.S. exporters paid some $1 billion in tariffs. Congressional approval of the FTA would level the trade playing field. What could be better for American businesses and workers?

New Hampshire stands to benefit from approval of the trade agreement. Department of Commerce figures show that in 2007, some $21 million in goods were exported to Colombia, including computers, electronic equipment and products, fabricated metal products and fabric mill products. Slapped with tariffs as high as 15 percent for computers and electronic equipment and 20 percent for machinery, New Hampshire products will be more competitive in Colombian markets after the FTA.

...

However, in defending her decision to change the rules, Speaker Pelosi indicated that a delay on the vote on the trade agreement would save the FTA from defeat and help the American economy. In other words, the House had to destroy the FTA vote to save it. Perhaps Hugo Chavez understands this logic, but the American and Colombian people do not.

Judd Gregg is New Hampshire's senior U.S. senator.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Judd+Gregg%3A+Spiking+Colombia+Free+Trade+Agreement+hurts+us%2C+them&articleId=bc9bd899-f6c4-46f4-8df4-29854c3bf863

And he will now be over this agency, one that is supposed to try to correct unfair trade barriers to American exports.

International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce


Ensuring Fair Trade

ITA monitors industry access to overseas markets and works to remove costly barriers to product and service exports. According to a University of Michigan study, the average U.S. family of four still stands to gain an estimated $7,800 per year if there was total elimination of global barriers to trade in goods and services. The World Bank has reported that the elimination of global trade barriers could lift 300-500 million of the world’s poor out of poverty over the next 15 years.

The International Trade Administration’s Market Access and Compliance (MAC) Unit’s objective is to obtain market access for American firms and workers and to achieve full compliance by foreign nations with trade agreements they sign with our country. In doing so, MAC is liberalizing trade, which has been shown to pull the world’s poor out of poverty and increase the standard of living for the average U.S. worker. Through the Trade Compliance Center, ITA is able to track specific cases where U.S. firms are experiencing barriers to entry or not receiving the full potential of negotiated agreements.

Unfair foreign pricing and government subsidies distort the free flow of goods and adversely affect American business in the global marketplace. When that happens, the International Trade Administration can take enforcement actions. ITA’s Import Administration is the agency’s lead unit on enforcing trade laws and agreements to prevent unfairly traded imports and to safeguard jobs and the competitive strength of American industry. From working to resolve disputes to implementing measures when violations are found, we are there to protect U.S. companies from unfair trade practices.
http://trade.gov/fairtrade/index.asp

Boston Business Journal
Judd Gregg to Head Commerce Department

...

The U.S. Business and Industry Council, which represents domestic manufacturers, criticized Gregg’s selection.

“The selection of Sen. Gregg completely contradicts what domestic manufacturers understand to be the president’s stated views on U.S. trade policy,” said council President Kevin Kearns. “Sen. Gregg has voted nonstop for bad trade deals that have shipped overseas thousands of factories and large numbers of high-wage jobs, helping to create today’s economic crisis.

“The choice of Sen. Gregg makes sense only if the president wants a secretary of Outsourcing,” Kearns said.
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/othercities/washington/stories/2009/02/02/daily32.html

Why is it that America is called "protectionist" if we take reasonable steps to protect our own markets by ensuring that we aren't importing toxic food and toys, if we insist on countries not manipulating their currencies, if we insist on countries not setting up artificial trade barriers that companies in their own backyards don't have to contend with, if we insist on fair labor and environmental standards to level the playing field? What would happen if we just totally said fuck it? We have huge trade deficits with many of these countries. Who would they trade with if not us and have these massive lopsided trade advantages? It's one thing to have free trade. It's one thing to want access to markets. But not every trade deal is good for us. Just because you have access to a market doesn't mean there aren't underlying barriers that undermine U.S. companies.

Something needs to be done about this trade fiasco we have here. This has slowly choked our country and contributed to the economic crisis we're now experiencing. With the massive offshoring, outsourcing, and transfer to jobs to cheap labor countries, many Americans have fallen behind in real wages, benefits have been cut, and entire towns have been decimated. This has led to American workers overextending themselves with credit just to maintain a reasonable standard of living. This combined with the parasitic and predatory nature of Wall Street banks, corruption, and deregulation have ruined our economy. At the root of all of this is the decline in American wages, growing inequality in wealth made possible by our tax code, and growing costs of health care. But a lack of jobs and decline in wages started it all.

[rockymountaindem]

1. This just doesn't make any sense to me

Maybe if we were going to get the extra Senate seat, but even that's not happening. Another weird pick by Obama.

[ClarkUSA]

2. Um, you do know that he will have to support Pres. Obama's policies 100% as a Cabinet member, right?

Just like Hillary, IWR and Kyl-Lieberman "aye" voter/ "Obliterate Iran" warmonger, is now the SoS.

Hillary now praises and supports the same Obama foreign policy she denigrated as "naive".

I guarantee you that Gregg will serve as a handy ally in convincing his Senate GOP colleagues to support the president's policies,
starting with the stimulus bill, which he couldn't gush more about this morning.

Cabinet officials do not make policy; they follow and support the President's policy idea.

[democrank]

3. Right.

Why appoint a Democrat when you can have a Republican? It`s the new "change."