Key Issues in the Current Trade Debate

Key Issues in the Current Trade DebateOne of the largest and most controversial issues that is playing out in Washington right now involves the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This agreement has been the focus of intense scrutiny because of the impact that it has on many different sectors of our economy. This article takes a close look at some of the major issues associated with this agreement.There have been many debates about the impacts of global trade agreements in the past. The key question is whether these agreements are good for American workers, or not. A new report from the U.S. Department of Labor suggests that there may be a few benefits to these agreements, but that they also hurt the domestic economy. Therefore, the debate continues to rage on.On the domestic political arena, we find that some of the provisions of this agreement would raise the cost of labor. We already have a lot of different regulations that are tied to foreign labor, so this would certainly add to the alre ady high cost of labor. Also, it appears that this would increase the risk of the outsourcing of American jobs. The problem with this is that if the United States cannot keep up with the needs of their labor force, then they will lose out on millions of jobs that are currently outsourced to other countries.Another issue here is that we already have a high unemployment rate among our labor force. While it is true that these laws are somewhat being met, this does not necessarily help our overall economy. The truth is that American workers are taking less money from their own wages to pay for these programs, thus decreasing the amount of money that the government is receiving in taxes. This, of course, takes money out of the government's coffers as well.The same can be said for the financial damage that this type of agreement would cause. Over time, many different trade agreements have left us with less money in our treasury, and thus, less money to give back to the American taxpayer. Furthermore, we are seeing a large amount of debt being accumulated by our government. This can create a negative effect for years to come.On a personal level, what do we need to take away from this? Well, we see that it is okay to continue outsourcing, but we must demand that our own businesses maintain a level of loyalty to their own employees. If these multinational corporations are allowed to keep doing what they have been doing over the last twenty years, they will keep it up for as long as they can.In a sense, it is possible that this will be the same during the next past election cycle. Obama will keep talking about this and the Republicans will keep asking why Obama won't do anything about it. When you think about it, it is absolutely absurd that these agreements continue to be approved over again. It is actually costing us a lot of money and if these agreements were to be terminated immediately, we could see a huge surge in inflation.For instance, think about it. If you wer e an American worker that you would like to see more job opportunities, if the Trans-Pacific Partnership was to be eliminated immediately, where would you start looking? Would you start looking in the local area?