i found you updated statistics. our trade deficit with mexico soared 21% higher last year, so now we are running a $30 billion deficit with mexico. apparently these folks don't believe our manufacturing base is crumbling because of a lack of "efficiency".
quote: "steep trade deficit results from foreign barriers to U.S. exports, unfair dumping of imports in the U.S., and a run-up in the U.S. dollar, which has gained 27% in real value since 1995."
February 21, 2002
Trade deficit remains high despite recession
epinet.org
The trade deficit poses great risks for the U.S. economy. When the economy eventually begins to recover, this deficit is likely to grow rapidly. Since the U.S. must borrow from abroad to finance these deficits, at some point foreign lenders are likely to slow the supply of new credit, pushing the U.S. economy into a sharp recession, a deep devaluation of the dollar, or both (see EPI’s report Fast Track to Trade Deficits). The risks of collapse grow rapidly when the trade deficit exceeds 5% of GDP.
The U.S. economy is overly dependent on imports, and permanent trade deficits are built into the structure of the economy. The steep trade deficit results from foreign barriers to U.S. exports, unfair dumping of imports in the U.S., and a run-up in the U.S. dollar, which has gained 27% in real value since 1995. Structural difficulties with trade agreements, such as the lack of labor standards, are also part of the problem.
The manufacturing sector lost 1.3 million jobs in 2001, and 1.9 million manufacturing jobs have been eliminated since April 1998. Rapid growth in the trade deficit between 1998 and 2000 was responsible for the initial round of job losses in manufacturing. These losses deepened in 2001 because of the U.S. recession and continued growth in productivity, which is strongly associated with intense import competition. |
