To protect jobs in Clallam County, we need to find out what our members of Congress plan for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
You might think this issue is settled because voters hammered candidates during the primaries, forcing Hillary Clinton to repudiate the deal.
But it looks like TPP proponents are just laying low, waiting for the lame-duck session.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans lost over $9 trillion in cumulative trade deficits since NAFTA went into effect 1994, which includes over $2 trillion going to Canada and Mexico.
This is close to $30,000 per person, including all your kids, no matter how young.
Americans pay for deficits by selling off assets (like their houses) and going into debt.
Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs go to other countries, where they produce wealth for those countries.
The trade deficit is the deficit that matters.
It’s impossible to balance the federal budget with this drag on the economy.
And it is clear wage differential is the cause.
TPP would increase our exposure to cheap jobs by bringing in countries like Vietnam, where the minimum wage is around $1 per hour, according to the World Bank.
We hear the excuse people are losing their jobs to technology, but our trading partners have technology, too.
If technology were the cause, China would have suffered decreasing employment for the past 20 years.
Voters should call their candidates for Congress and ask them where they stand on TPP.
Protect local jobs.
We need a firm answer before the election finishes on Nov. 8.
Rich Wingerter,
Sequim