Free and Fair Trade For A Strong Global Economy

(NEWBURGH, Indiana) - The Framers of the Constitution mandated free trade among all the states in the union. The free economic system for the United States was clearly spelled out in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

"No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another."^{1}

The original concept of free trade is healthy for our country and global economy. However, trade agreements such as NAFTA and WTO have simply cost Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs, moved plants to Mexico and lowered wages for American workers. How has this helped America?

It's good economy for us to sell to China, India and the rest of the world. It's good for Americans to have the choice to buy from other countries. This is good competition. It's not good competition if China does not play by the rules. If China is using slave labor and manipulating their currency so they can sell merchandise cheaper, that is not fair. If they are putting unfair taxes on our products so that they are not competitively priced in China, that must stop.

It's not good when American corporations ship our jobs to Mexico, China and the far corners of the world. Corporations who ship our jobs overseas should continue to pay the current corporate tax if more than 30% of their work force is out of the country. On the other hand if corporations will keep at least 70% of the jobs in the United States then let's reward them with a 15% tax rate.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan have made the American auto industry stay on their toes. I believe we have great American cars today. I drive a Ford truck and an old Toyota van with over 250,000 miles on the odometer. I do not believe we would have the kind of American cars that we have today without the competition of foreign automakers. As Americans we deserve the right to choose which car we want to drive. Competition gives us better choices.

I do not mind that China and India are making clothes and furniture. I do mind if American corporations are moving all of our work there and hiring people for two dollars an hour and then shipping the products back here to the United States to sell to us for a high price and a high profit.

The Amish are still proving Americans can make the best furniture in the world. We make our products in America better. Our corporations must be given a chance to thrive. If our corporations are going to thrive we should further do the following:

We must have the opportunity to ship our products to China, India and around the world.

We can compete with the world. We have hard workers and the most creative minds on the planet. Our labor force can compete with anybody.

Other nations impose large fees on our products to restrict their citizens from buying our products and that is unfair. We should not do business with countries that limit our ability to sell in their countries by imposing ridiculous fees and taxes.

It's also unfair of us to impose tariffs and fees on foreign products to make it difficult for Americans to buy.

It's good for American companies to have competition and Americans should have the right to decide if they want to buy a foreign product without government penalty or management. American products will only become better and remain financially competitive if there are foreign products to choose from.

Most Americans would prefer to buy American products. At every opportunity we should buy American made products. Examine the product carefully as it seems to be harder all the time to find items made in the USA. Most all Americans are trying to make their money stretch further. Products that are lower in price are going to have our attention when we shop. When we buy we each have to be responsible for our own money management and try to determine what is good, better and best for our hard earned dollars.

Glenn Mollette is the author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and nine other books. He is the author of hundreds of articles and features. Hear him each Sunday night on XM radio 131 at 8 EST.
Find him on www.facebook/glennmollette.com or email him directly at gmollette@aol.com

Salem-News.com's Glenn Mollette is the author of American Issues and hundreds of other articles and books. A resident of Newburgh, Indiana, Glenn is a national columnist, author of ten books and hundreds of stories, articles and features. His most recent book is American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion.

These books are titled, "Silent Struggler, A Caregiver's Personal Story" and "Nursing Home Nightmares, America's Disgrace"

He is originally from Martin County, KY where Lyndon Johnson began his campaign on poverty. Hear him each Sunday night on XM radio 131 at 8 EST.

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me again - floyd :-) June 25, 2013 7:43 pm (Pacific time)

I always gotta throw a song/video in, you know me :-)...This is part of maybe, I dont know, another part of the U.S. we dont see. Maybe anon is correct and we will overcome..I hope so anon, and maybe its all of us, whether a poster or an author/editor, sharing thoughts an keeping an open discussion is helping.
Dave Matthews playing "wasting time/stay)..hope ya like it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnXeZclbO68

Thanks!

pinkfloyd June 25, 2013 7:31 pm (Pacific time)

Good article, and to anon, your post was too long so just browsed over it, but you made some good points..Altho, because of the indoctrination of the skools and media, open borders etc we are living in a different time than the 30's and 70's. I dont know, we shall see, but I do know things are going to get worse. How much worse? I dont know. Some group burnt the GMO beets, so that was good news..Whether snowden is a set-up or for real, I dont know but I have been talking about what he released for over ten years and glad its in mainstream news now. Lotsa bad stuff going on, but some good stuff too..what a ride huh? I do like the spirit of this article..thanks Glenn.

Anonymous June 25, 2013 1:57 pm (Pacific time)

Despite its economic challenges, the United States remains the engine of the global economy. It boasts 18 of the 50 largest companies on earth – three times as many as the closest challenger. The United States is home to the world’s largest aerospace (Boeing), biotech (Amgen), pharmaceutical (Pfizer), retail (Walmart), petroleum (ExxonMobil), software (Microsoft), technology hardware (HP), computer services (IBM), communications equipment (Cisco) and heavy equipment (Caterpillar) firms. Rather than simply mass-producing, reverse-engineering or pirating what others create – like China’s state-controlled industries – these corporations are shaping the future and propelling globalization. Some argue that globalization is just another word for Americanization, and they may be right. Indeed, it is in the wake of globalization that we begin to glimpse the full breadth of U.S. power: •The Libyan people are clamoring for iPhones, Nikes, Ford Mustangs and Eminem CDs. •Cubans and Iranians are erecting illegal satellite dishes to catch a glimpse of U.S. television. •Thanks to Yao Ming, some of the NBA’s biggest fans are in China. Beijing honored the now-retired basketball star as its 2005 “vanguard worker,” an award once reserved for Maoist revolutionaries. •Seventy percent of Coke drinkers live outside North America. Half of all McDonald’s restaurants are somewhere other than the United States. Walmart has 2,700 stores outside the United States. •Ninety percent of all PCs run Microsoft software. •The United States claims six of the world’s top 10 universities. •The United States accounts for more than one-third of all international patent filings. The converse simply does not hold. Americans are not buying Afri-Cola, watching Chinese basketball, tuning in to Castro’s state-run TV, surfing the Web with Chinese software or European PCs, or opening research labs in foreign lands. Speaking of foreign lands, the U.S. military provides a security umbrella to about half the world’s landmass, polices the world’s toughest neighborhoods, and serves as the world’s first responder and last line of defense. No other military could attempt such a feat of global multitasking. Because of the U.S. military’s restraint, foreign governments invite it onto their territory: Kosovo, Korea and Kuwait want U.S. troops to maintain regional stability. From Germany to Georgia, those who remember a Europe of concrete walls and iron curtains want U.S. forces on their soil as a hedge against Russia. And those who fear China’s rise are strengthening their U.S. ties. As to the charge that America is “overstretched,” consider that in the 1950s, the United States had 3.4 million troops on active duty, a sizable 2.1 percent of the country’s 160 million population at the time. In the 1960s, the country had a million troops stationed overseas. During the Cold War, America spent 6 to 10 percent of its GDP on defense. Today, the United States has 1.4 million troops on active duty (out of a population of 313 million); 70 percent of U.S. forces are based in the United States and its territories; and America spends 4 percent of its GDP on defense. Without question, the United States faces challenges that could erode its global position: its fiscal situation is a mess, China is ascending, and the world abounds with asymmetric threats that could undermine the liberal order Americans have built for generations. But America overcame worse economic times in the 1930s and 1970s. America has coped with rising powers before. And today’s asymmetric threats pale in comparison to the existential threats posed by the madmen of the 20th century. Moreover, no country enfolds the full spectrum of geopolitical power (economic, military, cultural) and embraces universally appealing attributes (political pluralism, economic opportunity, cultural openness) like the United States. This confluence of strengths gives the United States a decisive edge.

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Free and Fair Trade For A Strong Global Economy

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