Although I am not an economist, I have always been against these trade deals like NAFTA or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was effectively killed by Congress. I thought they unfairly targeted the American worker.
That being said, I can’t seem to be able to understand how it is going to be possible to suddenly do more auto manufacturing in the United States after 20 years of NAFTA.
One glaring problem is that in the U.S., we make an average of $46 an hour in the auto business, while in Mexico, they make an average of $8 an hour. There must be a significant amount of real labor still in car manufacturing, even given advances in automation.
Another slight issue is that there are hundreds of parts in a car, and most are not made here, so I guess they too would have an import tax. I think also that if any of the big guys do more manufacturing here, they won’t be union jobs.
Given these realities, we might get some jobs back at lower wages, but we all will pay with higher prices, and these will drive inflation.
Donald Gray
Rockland
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