WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) issued the following statement following President Obama's remarks on trade at a Nike facility in Oregon:
“American workers have seen the effects of unfair foreign trade on their jobs and manufacturing facilities - they don't need their elected leaders making personal attacks on each other during an important policy debate.
“During the 2008 presidential primary, I watched President Obama argue in Cleveland that we should renegotiate NAFTA. Instead, we've seen more empty promises of jobs through exports while American workers are hit with a flood of imports and jobs shipped overseas. It's clear that the American public doesn't support these trade deals and I am disappointed the president has resorted to name calling in an attempt to shift the debate.
“If the President wants to have a real debate, he should release the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and let the public and press review it before Congress grants fast track authority for him to rush it through.”
The Obama Administration predicted that the South Korea Free Trade Agreement would create 70,000 jobs and deliver up to $11 billion in exports. Instead, it only increased U.S. exports to Korea by $1 billion, while Korean imports have skyrocketed to more than $12 billion. The growing good trade deficit with Korea has eliminated over 75,000 jobs in the last three years.
The U.S. already has a trade deficit with Japan and 10 other countries included in the TPP. Since 1997, the deficit with these countries has increased by $151.4 billion.
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