AFL-CIO Presses Bold Action on Trade Deficit

The AFL-CIO Executive Council recounted the failure of the nation's trade laws and called for bold action on trade to address the skyrocketing U.S. trade deficit and its devastating effect on working families everywhere, now and in the future.

CWA President Larry Cohen and USW President Leo Gerard developed and the AFL-CIO approved a bold proposal to levy a temporary surcharge on imports to help bring our nation's $726 billion trade deficit under control. The funds generated from the surcharge also could be dedicated to increasing access to affordable health care and domestic investment in education, technology and infrastructure.

The AFL-CIO called for development of an action plan to build congressional support for the measure, educate the public and union members on the current trade crisis and highlight the issue at a major public forum. This should be a key part of our political work in the 2006 election and beyond, the AFL-CIO said.

The AFL-CIO acknowledged that the surcharge proposal is a strong and controversial measure that should only be used in an emergency situation. "But the current U.S. account imbalance clearly qualifies as such an emergency," especially since elected leaders have failed to even propose a viable solution, the AFL-CIO said.

The AFL-CIO also called for additional, immediate action, including:

• Ending tax and financial incentives that encourage U.S. corporations to ship jobs offshore.
  
  
• Moves to stop China, Japan and other nations from manipulating their currencies.
  
  
• An end to trade agreements based on the flawed NAFTA and CAFTA models, which have produced giant deficits and provided excessive protection of corporate rights while doing virtually nothing for workers, farmers and the environment.
  
  
• A moratorium on new trade agreements until they include measures to protect and advance workers' interests. Labor and its allies will continue to fight deals with Oman; the United Arab Emirates; Thailand; Panama; South Korea; Peru, Colombia and Ecuador; the Southern African Customs Union and others, working with our union counterparts in those countries.