Trade agreements continue causing American growth to slow due to loss of US market share domestically and internationally. The Bureau of Economic Affairs (BEA) just released a report showing that third quarter economic growth (1.5%) was less than half that of the second quarter of this year (3.6%).
“American manufacturing and agriculture continue to lose market share due to trade agreements that foster more imports and do not deliver sufficient offsetting exports,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. “Today’s government report directly attributes slower US growth to increased imports and decreased exports.”
“CPA member companies, farms, ranches and workers have been shut out of domestic supply chains because federal policy is to promote global supply chains. Political leaders prioritize the interests of import lobbies seeking subsidized goods over building and growing a diverse array of industries in America.
At the same time, Ambassador Michael Froman continues to use recycled promotional arguments from the past to advocate passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement while, at the same time, preventing Congress and the public from reading its terms. The media continues to dutifully transcribe Froman’s promotional pitches as if they were stenographers rather than journalists.
Each of the forty straight years of US trade deficit means a loss of market share, at home and globally, for US producers. Political leaders, the media and the public need to require the administration to investigate and solve the root cause of that debilitating loss of market share rather than double down policies that contributed to the problem.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing the interests of over three million households through our agricultural, manufacturing and labor organization members.
