Reply #60: These worked out so well before.......

[Swede Atlanta]

NAFTA has sucked millions of U.S. jobs out of the country, mostly to the south. Unless these trade agreements are between partners that share certain common values, they will result in jobs being sucked from the wealthier countries to the poorer and a flow of cheap goods in the other direction. When an American or Canadian manufacturer with an average labor cost of say $25.00 an house can shift jobs to Mexico with an average labor cost of say $5.00 an hour, those jobs will never return. The only jobs that remain are those in the service sector that cannot be performed elsewhere (e.g. hairdresser, McDonad's server, etc.) and those that require skills that don't exist in Mexico. Those same American and Canadian manufacturers then re-import the Mexican-made products to their home markets. This results in a lower cost of consumers and a much larger profit margin. This works as long until the wealthier countries have been so drained of jobs they can no longer afford to buy those products. For every good-paying job that leave, at least 3 other jobs are affected. Over time and with volume, the entire economy is at risk.