Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

In a conference call this afternoon, a group of prominent members of Congress discussed launching a new trade bill. Among those contributing were Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Oh), Representative Mike Michaud (D-Me), Representative Betty Sutton (D-Oh), and Citizens Trade Campaign director, Andy Gussert.

Brown said that in 1992 the trade deficit in the U.S. was 38 billion dollars and in 2007 the trade deficit was over 750 billion dollars. Specifically, the trade deficit with China has gone up 1200% since 1992. He said that because of these staggering statistics, he and his colleagues have put serious thought into a bill that will give U.S. trade a different direction. Brown said that one of the major problems with the trade policy is the tendency for U.S. based companies to outsource jobs to other countries, which hurts the U.S. economy, which is why part of the new trade agenda is the Patriotic Employment Act, which is designed to offer tax incentives to companies that decide to manufacture goods in the U.S. The Senator from Ohio said that because this bill contains so many new ideas it probably won’t make it through congress this year, but that it is a step in the right direction.

Michaud said that this new trade agenda is not opposed to trade, it is opposed to the way the US participates in trade. He said that the agenda is focused on developing a set of guidelines that can be implemented and will be used as a “roadmap” for future trade negotiations. Michaud said that bad trade policies were costing Americans jobs and that working class families understand the need for a new trade policy.