The Obama administration’s drive literally to clone George W. Bush’s trade policy rolls on – to the point where it’s reproducing practically word-for-word the same dishonest arguments and claims spewed endlessly by the previous administration – and its predecessor.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s website, for example, now contains a page called “Benefits of Trade.”  It’s about as accurate as the Iranian government’s last press release.  Visitors will see “facts” like, “The U.S. is the world's largest trading nation, with exports of goods and services over $1.8 trillion in 2008.  For the first quarter of 2009, it was $375 billion.”

Any mention of imports, which are far greater?  Or the resulting deficit, which is largely responsible for the debt-fueled economic crisis the nation is struggling to end?  Of course not.  Then there’s the claim that, “Exports exceeded 13 percent of U.S. GDP for the first time in 2008.”  Bravo.  But imports approached 18 percent of GDP for the first time last year, too.  Presumably, USTR just forgot.

And is there any examination of the relationship between leaping exports of parts, components, and sub-assemblies, which are often incorporated by cheap foreign labor into finished goods in foreign countries and then shipped back to the United States as -- guess what -- imports? Apparently, USTR would rather not think about that relationship.

USTR also informs us, “US manufacturing exports support nearly six million jobs, including one in six manufacturing jobs.”  Nothing, though, about the flood of net imports that have displaced millions more such jobs.

We’re told, “US jobs supported by goods [exports] pay 13-18 percent more than the US national average.”  But we’re not told that these jobs pay more because they’re found at manufacturing companies – most of them large –  which pay premium wages to workers who supply foreign and domestic markets alike.  After all – they’re the same workers!  Perhaps former Dallas mayor and current USTR Ron Kirk thinks that firms maintain separate production lines and workforces  dependent on the geographic location of the firm’s customers?  If he’s this clueless about how businesses really work, then our nation and planet are even worse off than we at GLOBALIZATION FOLLIES fear.

Finally to emphasize the importance of trade expansion, Kirk has dredged up the canard that “nearly 95 percent of world's consumers are outside our borders.”  Like his predecessors, what he leaves out is that half of those supposed consumers are making $1 a day or less, and most of the rest aren’t faring much better.  

Kirk is fond of statements like, “To truly fulfill the promise of a trade agenda that works for America's working families and businesses, we're going to have to stop the name-calling that keeps us divided on trade.”  The best way to stop the divisions would be for the Obama administration to start telling the truth.

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