americansworking.com Blog

Here is a link I found to a CNN website that list American companies that outsource our jobs. I did not see a date on it. But some big names are on it.

Here is the list of shame

So below is part of an article from The Daily Standard I found on Free Trade. Read at least the following if not the entire article and let me know what you think. I know this article is written very pointed for one party vs. the other, but that is not my point. 

“SO IT DOES INDEED end with a whimper rather than a bang. Free trade, I mean. Thanks to a president too weak politically to withstand the protectionist surge of a Democratic Congress, the era of ever-freer trade has come to an end. It expired quietly, with few mourners, and some of those who have done it in claiming that the corpse is alive and well.

Susan Schwab, U.S. Trade representative, found it politically necessary to claim that the deal cut by a weakened President Bush and a reluctant Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson with a triumphant Congress “shows the U.S. is not turning protectionist.” I doubt whether her more candid predecessor, Bob Zoellick, could have been persuaded to claim victory in the face of so significant a defeat.

The deal, still subject to congressional approval, is this: The Democrats will agree to approve two minor trade agreements, one with Peru and the other with Panama, in return for a Republican agreement to require its trading partners to adopt a series of environmental and labor market “reforms.” Those “reforms” include the recognition of the right of trade unions to organize workers, the outlawing of most child labor and of workplace discrimination, and a requirement to allow patent protections of pharmaceuticals to lapse overseas when they expire in the United States. We can sue our trading partners if they violate the agreement, and they can sue us. For example, if some country such as Panama decides that we are violating trade union rights here at home, they can bring suit to pressure Congress to change the law

Never mind that these provisions are an invitation to anti-trade forces in America to bring suit against countries deemed to be lax in enforcing these new standards. Or that the agreement opens the door to suits against our own government. More important is what this deal tells about the shift in the balance of political forces that determine future trade policy.” Source The Daily Standard

1. I think that if we have all of these green laws forced on us, it is counter productive to allow goods to be brought in here that do not have to meet the same standards.
2. Not sure on Union stuff.
3. As for Child Labor, I do not understand where the adults are? Are they working too, or just pimping out thier kids. I think that if Kids work there must be a reason, like poverty, lack of education, lack of a goverment that cares at all about their people. But if kids do have to work, then they should be paid as much as adults, seems to me that would employ more adults or help the child break the cycle? I know it is more complicated than that. But I think that the US should not allow products in that were made by children until we know why and that the loser companies and countries have a plan to improve the lives of it’s child workers.
4. Other countries sueing us does not sound so good, but us sueing them sounds great. Sounds like we could almost use that right as a line item veto to block certain companies from exporting to us while allowing others? That could help tilt the balance. However I’m sure our abilty to sue and complain will be hamstrung by the same people that are supposed to be protecting us.
5. If we allow goods to be brought in to the US that were produced in ways that we would not allow here at home we are just creating a second class person that it is OK to take advantage of, a second class country where it is OK to pollute, and so on. It is like the idiots that pay a carbon tax when they fly in private jets they can pollute and feel good about it because they have some money to waste on making themselves feel better.
6. Bottom line for me is we stop importing items that made in ways we don’t allow at home. That will raise the bar. ( I know other things have to happen as well, it is not that simple)

OK, this is a different type of giving our job to folks overseas. It turns out that our own companies that send jobs offshore also us the H-1B Visa to bring temorary skilled workers here. The problem is that these temp workers make less than our new college graduates.

30% of the 65,000 H-1B Visas issued worldwide went to Indians.

I think that before these visas are issued that the companies using those folks should have to advertise for the jobs here at standard wages before being allowed to bring in outsiders.

So our own people are at it again. So under the new agreement Korea will be allowed to export textiles into the US duty and tax free, but guess what our textiles going there are still subject to a 10% VAT Tax.

Why do we call these Fair Trade Agreements? Why do our own people keep doing this to us? GOP or DEM, they both do it.

This is a very interesting article about China’s growth and how they are going to be the investor rather then the investee. Some good points are made here about natural resouces and oil that should make you think about buying a hybrd car soon. Check it out here

According to a recent article in the BBC online large companies driven by customer complaints are bringing many of the support desk jobs back home. We can do the same here. Big companies spend a lot of money “Branding” and they don’t want negitive thoughts about the brand. When they hear the customers wanting something, if it can be done they will do it. So do it.

Here is a great quote from the article from a man who did not take his call center overseas.

“Taking call centres out of the UK might look like a good option if you are a short-sighted accountant with your nose stuck up against a spreadsheet. We have always taken the broader view - we could save money but at the expense of service.”

Source: BBC online

I’m no expert by any means in the laws and rules regarding exporting and importing. But I found this article on the National Textile Association’s website. So I will take their word on this. Here is a bit from the article:

“Take the yarn spinner I heard from at the Washington meeting. He cannot sell his product in China because even if he can meet the price of locally-produced Chinese yarn (which benefits from the low wages and environmental standards in China and the government subsidies such as free electricity) he is faced with paying the 17% Chinese valued-added tax (VAT) on top of the 10% import duty. He has already paid the full cost of U.S. federal, state, and local taxes, and will have to pay Chinese tax in addition.”

On the other hand, a Chinese company can ship yarn to the U.S. and pay just the import duty (also about 10%). The U.S. has no VAT or other taxes imposed on imports comparable to the income tax, property tax, and other taxes paid by domestic manufacturers. Furthermore, that Chinese company can get a Chinese government refund of the VAT when the company exports to the U.S.”

Source: 

POST-GAZETTE - Res Publica Heads, I Win; Tails, You Lose by David Trumbull April 20, 2007

Elastic Corporation to shut down: Columbiana factory’s 230 jobs moved to Central America. According to the article the bulk of this companies customers are fled south of the border for cheap labor and they have to be where their customers are (Fruit of the Loom, Jockey, etc.) This was all in March of 07

Here is a couple quotes from the company: “We’ve had great employees but its just one thing you have to do in textiles,”  “You go to these foreign countries for lower wages, for cheaper work.”  “We have a facility in Honduras, and it’s likely that’s where we will be going,”. “A majority of our customers are in Central America, and they want our presence there.”

Here is a quote from the town’s mayor: “We are very sad for the employees because this is their livelihood,”. “Many of them have devoted their entire adult lives to working there.”

Source: Shelby County Reporter

You may recall last winter the news stories of  fur lined clothing coming from China was found to be dog hair instead of rabbit, or whatever it was supposed to be. Here is another story from The National Textile Association where it was found that China was exporting 800,000 items that were made of cashmere, however when a Japenese lab tested them there was very little real cashmere in them. All 800,000 items were recalled. Also some products headed for the US and Japan that were made of wool were made of Yak hair.

So there are many reasons products are cheap! Sometimes they are not even real.

Well to bad it is not here (although our employment rate is good right now, there is always room to grow) but it is in large part because of us. Read the story here

This is an example of outsourcing Jobs that should be here. American Express should be ashamed of themselves for being in the postion to be mentioned in this article.

If you have an Amex card, call them and let them know what you think. (I don’t have one)