Are free trade agreements benefiting the United States?

The subject of free trade agreements has seen battles between those who want them and those who feel they do not benefit the United States or other countries. This article will provide some insight to the process of how trade agreements are generated and the benefits and negatives of initiating the agreements between the United States and other countries. The issue may get wrapped around the current issue of unemployment in the coming election. In this respect it is important to understand both sides of the issue and why there is so much effort to stop these agreements from becoming reality.

First, as a voter and citizen of this country I always like to know both sides of an issue so I can form my own opinion. This is what we all should strive for, instead of allowing the media or special groups try to form our opinions for us by telling us what we should think. This type of effort is contrary to the principles upon which this country was founded.

The discussion of any trade agreements, whether they are made with one country or a group of countries such as in the NAFTA agreement now in place, are vital in order to consider all of the factors. This example will be touched upon in relation to any problems or positive impact this has generated for our country. Currently we have a total of 17 free trade agreements which may surprise some individuals. The amount of free trade agreements reveals that the United States is the world’s largest economy and the world’s largest exporter and importer of goods and services.

Some of the benefits of free trade agreements come in the form of jobs to fill the increased demand for our goods and services. Opening up opportunities with other countries brings increased opportunities for our business community to grow. Some will say that free trade agreements are a detriment to jobs as other goods are brought into our country. To some extent they are right, but it also points to the fact that we have been innovative in developing new products and services. The growing number of developing countries is seeing an increased demand for our products and services. This can only be good. Without trade agreements the opportunities with these countries may never have happened or they would have been difficult to achieve.

In terms of employment, the latest statistics available through the government office of the United States Trade Representative reveal that the number of jobs which trade agreements supported in 2008 totaled more than 10 million. No one can say this is not a positive impact to our economy. This figure is comprised of 7.5 million jobs exporting our goods and 2.8 million jobs exporting our services. Today the possibility of more trade agreements brings the potential for more jobs which are greatly needed to boost the economic needs of our country.

Trade agreements keep our economy open, dynamic and competitive which is a good thing in the world economy of today. Figures for 2009 have the dollar value of our goods and services exported to be $1.57 trillion. According to the United States Trade Representative website, every state benefits from trade agreements, therefore it is not something that is limited to one sector of the country.

Some would have us not enter into trade agreements based on the fear of losing jobs to products and services which would enter the country at sometimes lower prices based on some support within their own country. This point may have some truth, but we as a country must look at the opportunities this provides us. We have a history of being innovative in developing products and services to meet demands which we sometimes create through marketing efforts to get the message out about the benefits they provide. It may also be true that some countries are better at making certain products than we are while we are better at making certain products than other countries. This creates a win/win situation for both sides of the free trade agreement issue.

In the past there have been some problems with some products being imported into the United States based on their manufacturing processes. I am not discounting that these instances occur or that they impact our country. As a nation, we have a system to identify these issues and get the countries involved to resolve the issues. They know products that do not meet our safety standards will be discovered and they will affect their reputation in addition to losing potential customers who may have wanted to buy their products.

The main goals of free trade agreements are to reduce barriers to U.S. exports, protect U.S interests and enhance the rule of law in partner countries. The financial aspects of these types of agreements help to make our products cheaper and easier to export. The same conditions also apply for those who sign agreements with the U.S. All parties basically see benefits from these agreements.

Other benefits of free trade agreements can be found in the details usually found in them. Examples include the right of a U.S. company to bid on certain government procurements in the partner country. Another is the adequate compensation a company receives if it’s investment in a partner country is taken by the government. Other benefits include the right to participate in development of product standards in a foreign country and protection and enforcement of American-owned intellectual property rights. These would be difficult if not impossible to achieve on their own without these agreements.

It is clear that benefits exist through the use of free trade agreements. The fact that the examples identified in the previous paragraph generally exist in these agreements is a plus for creating them. In addition to these benefits, there are also jobs that support these agreements by helping to either manufacture or distribute the products involved. Unemployment is a major issue in our critical economic environment and if free trade agreements were not in place or being negotiated, the job picture would more than likely be worse. The more a business can sell their products in more places increases not only the demand for the products but the demand for the workers to meet those demands.