WASHINGTON (AP) – A 21-year-old ghost haunts President Barack Obama and his allies as he presses Congress for enhanced powers to make trade deals with Japan and other nations.
Obama says new trade deals will avoid the shortcomings of NAFTA, the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, which many Americans blame for big job losses, especially in manufacturing.
Pro-trade groups say globalism, technology and other factors caused many of the losses. Still, they are scrambling to show that post-NAFTA deals have been better for U.S. workers, and they say more agreements are needed.
Near the heart of every trade argument lurks NAFTA, a breakthrough deal passed mainly by Republicans in Congress, and signed by a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Liberals, labor unions and others denounce NAFTA almost daily. They say it’s the blueprint for new proposals being pushed by Obama and – once again – a mostly Republican constituency in Congress.
Not true, say Obama and others.