(This is the full version of the letter which appeared in the Salisbury Post on 9/29/03)

"Free" Trade

Special to the Post 

 How bad will the unemployment figures get before we finally understand the gravity of the situation we found ourselves in today? As more and more manufacturing facilities close their doors because of unfair, foreign competition, "we ain’t seen nothing yet".

I know firsthand as to the effects of globalization and Free Trade. Over ten years ago, my business was devastated by the effects from one of the first and lesser known of these trade agreements, the Andean Trade Preference Act. The United States’ cut-flower industry is now dead.

With the elimination of tariffs, and the importation of cheap, unlimited product, the entire industry was compromised and destroyed. Simply put, there is no way possible to compete with Third World countries who work their people for slave wages. These countries do not have an EPA or OSHA or any of the burdensome government regulations that we have to endure. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand these principles. At the time, no one seemed to care. After all, no one noticed the demise of such a small industry.

Today, with more and more trade agreements being implemented, things have taken a more noticeable scenario. These agreements are really more than just about trade. There isn’t enough time in a simple article to explain the whole affair, but the results are the same - loss of manufacturing jobs, and with it, our economy and national sovereignty. These agreements are carefully crafted and designed to be implemented gradually so as not to bring drastic changes too quickly.

Recently Congress passed two more destructive trade bills - one with Chile and one with Singapore. Provisions of these agreements will effectively change our immigration laws. The grand finale will be the "Free Trade Area of the Americas" (FTAA) in 2005. If passed by Congress, it is certain to be signed into law by the President. This will be the end of our country as a free and sovereign nation. God forbid.

Locally, there is nothing that can be done. Steve Blount, Tim Russell, and all the king’s men cannot put this economy back together again. Frank Tadlock thinks that a "New Deal" approach is appropriate. Maybe collective farms would be even better.

As Americans, we have been sold out. As it is now, American manufacturing is doomed, and the economy as well. We must realize that an economy begins on a farm, in a mine, or a forest. These raw materials must be transferred into useable products, everything from the food we eat, the clothes on our back, the tools we use, to the vehicles we drive. Without these basic industries, we have no economy.

Our wealth is hemorrhaging in the form of massive trade deficits. This wealth is leaving and is not coming back. What little economy we now have is based on debt spending. Americans continue to borrow and spend at a rate that is unsustainable. Unemployment, bankruptcies and foreclosures are common place now. Governments are oblivious to the cause of the situation.

The bureaucrats are in a dream world. They have no clue as to the source of their prosperity. There is nothing government can do to create jobs. It’s not possible.

If there is a solution to the problem, it rests in the hands of Congress. Write your Representatives. Demand that they revisit the NAFTA, GATT, Andean Trade Preference Act, and Preferred Nation Trade Status for Communist China. Ask Elizabeth Dole why she recently voted for the Free Trade Agreements with Chile and Singapore. Demand accountability from your Representatives. Do not elect Congressmen and Senators that do not put America first. Do not reelect the ones that have already betrayed us. Robin Hayes is a good example.

I also challenge the Salisbury Post to once again, print the voting scores of these politicians to let the people know how their Representatives voted on these important issues.

I also challenge each and every one of you to avoid buying foreign made products if at all possible. It only encourages the problem.

We’ve been toiling under the weight of Free Trade over ten years now. We can’t survive as a free and sovereign nation much longer.

Steve Poteat

Salisbury