July 2, 2015
What the T.P.P. Trade Deal Might do to ‘Made In USA’
Last week, the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal passed Congress & was signed into law by President Obama. Marking one of the first times that the Legislative Branch got along so famously with the Executive. There have been lots of theories, hushed whispers and speculation surrounding this new trade deal over the past year. Now that it is law, economists, activists and American workers are left wondering what impact this will have on our manufacturing, domestic prices and economy as a whole. Truth is, no one really knows- but historically, trade deals such as this one are a very bad thing for American jobs and the wealth gap. Here is Robert Reich giving a two+ minute ‘crash course’ on the T.P.P.
As US manufacturers ourselves, we have felt the ‘uphill’ battle of keeping things produced domestically- since the overwhelming tend in garment manufacturing is to offshore production. Sadly, this slope is expected to increase rather than level out in America’s favor. The benefit of a trade deal such as this won’t really be felt by us, our workers or many people we know- rather, it is expected to only benefit the upper echelon of wealthy individuals and large corporations. But that isn’t even necessarily the worst part… the environmental impacts could easily be much more dramatic, despite the goals to actually ‘reign in’ other countries emissions and impact. Have a look at this chart produced by 350.org:
Truth is, this is a pretty big deal. It wasn’t really created to help the populous of our country (or others) and it might make buying ‘Made In USA’ that much more difficult. The fight isn’t over though, if it is truly shown to be unpopular, Washington will listen. Remember, they work for us. You can read a great article about this issue here in the New York Times.
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