I disagree with the editorial published in the newspaper on July 28 that urges quick congressional action to approve trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

These trade agreements will increase imports into the United States more than they will increase exports. This is bad for our economy.

Many products once manufactured here are now made overseas, where worker wages and environmental standards are much less than they are here. This saves money for some American consumers, but hurts other Americans who can’t find a job and can’t afford to buy things that they need. This hurts the retail and wholesale sectors of the economy, not just manufacturing.

We have an “official” unemployment rate in excess of 9 percent. The real rate is at least twice as many. One of the best ways to put these unemployed people back to work would be to have more manufacturing jobs in the United States.

I think it is good for the people of each nation to produce consumer goods for its own people, to the maximum extent possible. I don’t mind if some of our large corporations own a manufacturing facility in a foreign country to produce goods for the people who live there, but it is not good for American workers if too many products made overseas are sold here. We need a trade policy that allows no more imports than exports. The proposed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama will not help us reach this goal.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, my Congressman, opposes these trade agreements. He is in a far better position to understand the impacts of these trade proposals on the economy of the United States than is the editorial staff of the newspaper. I agree with him.

Elery Keene, Winslow

Copy the Story Link