It’s past time that we hold China accountable for its unfair trade practices.
Back in January, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) unveiled a new report finding that lopsided trade with China has cost 3.7 million U.S. jobs since 2001, with three-fourths of those jobs in manufacturing.
EPI researchers Robert E. Scott and Zane Mokhiber also found that wages have taken a big hit because of China's unfair trade practices, with $37 billion wages lost every year between 2001 and 2011.
It might make you wonder: How did we get here… and what comes next?!?
The Alliance for American Manufacturing put together a short video to explain what's going on, and what America's leaders need to do to address this ongoing crisis. Check it out below:
Essentially, when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, it agreed to open its markets and abide by the rules of global trade. But China did neither of those things, and the United States failed to hold China accountable in any meaningful way.
The job loss followed, as did the decrease in wages. It all led to what some researchers have called "The China Shock," as entire communities suffered because of the sudden loss of so many good-paying jobs. Nothing has really replaced these jobs; while overall unemployment is low, it's still a struggle for workers without a four-year college degree to find a family-sustaining job. That's driving so much of the economic anxiety felt by many Americans today.
All the while, China continues to break the rules of global trade. Trump's "Phase 1" trade agreement with China doesn't do enough to address the fundamental issues driving this job and wage loss, including China's lax labor and environmental policies, state-owned enterprises, industrial subsidies, and more.
American workers are counting on Trump (and the eventual Democratic presidential nominee) to finally make these issues a priority and hold China accountable.
Please watch the video, share it with your networks and on social media, and be sure to take action.