Q: PRIMEDIA Business: We have been realizing that high-paying jobs have been drifting overseas, as businessmen here in the United States seek to reduce their costs and improve their operating profits and earnings. What is your plan to recapture the jobs that we have been losing to overseas markets and countries that pay workers a fraction of the salary/wage we pay here in the United States?
A: President Bush: Opening markets to U.S. exports is a key part of sustaining America's economic recovery and creating new jobs for American workers. U.S. exports accounted for almost 25% of U.S. economic growth during the 1990s and support an estimated 12 million jobs today. Jobs in exporting plants pay wages that average 13% to 18% more than jobs in nonexporting plants. Approximately one out of every five factory jobs is due to manufacturing exports, and American farmers plant one out of every three acres for export, generating nearly 25% of their gross cash sales.
We are aggressively enforcing trade agreements to level the playing field for American businesses and workers. My administration is working to do this by removing barriers that hinder American exporters, bringing WTO enforcement actions, combating unfair trading practices and increasing dedicated trade enforcement resources.
American workers are the most productive in the world, and when given a level playing field they can compete against workers anywhere. My administration has and will continue to use every tool at its disposal to stop unfair trade from hurting American businesses and workers. For example, the Commerce Department initiated the largest cases against China ever on imports of a number of products, including furniture, valued at more than $1.5 billion.
We know that any economic change - whether arising from trade or technology or increased productivity-can cause painful dislocation for some workers and their families. That is why I have proposed an aggressive agenda to help workers acquire the skills to find good-paying jobs. In my FY 2005 budget, I proposed $23 billion for job training and employment assistance.
To ease the effects of economic change, I have requested $1.1 billion in the FY 2005 budget for training and cash benefits for workers dislocated by increased imports or a shift of production to foreign countries. The Department of Labor provides benefits and training to displaced workers through Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). This program is designed to help trade-impacted workers gain or enhance job-related skills and find new jobs. It provides eligible workers with career counseling; up to two years of training to acquire the skills needed to return to work; income support during training or remedial education classes; job search assistance with 90% of the expenses reimbursed (up to $1250) to support workers exploring out-of-area job opportunities; health care assistance in the form of a 65% tax credit; an alternative wage insurance program for workers over the age of 50 earning not more than $50,000, who are entitled to 50% of the difference between their old and new salaries up to a maximum of $10,000 over a two-year period; and relocation support by reimbursing 90% of the costs of moving the worker and his or her family.
Jobs for the 21st Century Initiative I have also proposed my Jobs for the 21st Century initiative, which includes more than $500 million in funding for education and job-training programs. Jobs for the 21st Century will better prepare students for success in higher education and the job market, including $100 million to help middle and high school students striving to read; $120 million to improve math education; $40 million to bring professionals with subject-matter knowledge, such as scientists and software engineers, into the classroom; and $12 million to expand the State Scholars program to all 50 states to encourage high school students to take a rigorous academic curriculum, and $33 million to provide an additional $1,000 Pell Grant to students who complete the State Scholars curriculum. Jobs for the 21st Century initiative includes $250 million in funding for America's community colleges, so they can join with companies in growing industries to train workers for jobs that actually exist. I have proposed $50 million in Personal Re-employment Accounts that would provide workers with additional flexibility in selecting services to help them return to work. Under the plan, states would offer up to $3000 to eligible unemployed workers that can be used for whatever training and services-such as child care, transportation and job training-they believe will help them get back to work. As an incentive, the program would allow the recipients to keep the balance of the account as a cash bonus if they find a job within 13 weeks. Implementing a pro-growth economic agenda and a strong education system, and helping American workers gain the skills needed to secure 21st century jobs are the right ways to respond to the challenges of our growing and changing economy. Our plan is working, our economy is growing and a retreat to economic isolationism would be the wrong course to take. |
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A: Senator Kerry: We have developed a six-part plan to reassert our rights in the global economy and ensure a level playing field for American workers and businesses. Our plan calls for immediate action to force the Bush Administration to take trade enforcement seriously right now and outlines the steps that I would take as president to improve trade enforcement. Here are the steps that we would take:
Immediate reinstatement of the Super 301 process to force the Bush Administration to report and act on foreign trade barriers. We will call on Congress to immediately reinstate the 301 process, which would require the USTR to issue special reports on trade barriers to U.S. exports and work under specific timetables to eliminate such barriers or establish compensatory trade benefits.
As president, I will order an immediate 12-day review of all existing trade agreements to ensure that our trade partners are living up to their obligations, and that trade agreements are being enforced and they are working as anticipated.
We will step up action to strengthen worker's rights and stamp out abusive child labor. We will investigate China's repression of worker's rights. We will initiate an annual review of progress toward establishing core labor rights around the world and we will increase by 50% the funding for International Labor Affairs.
Further, we will increase resources for trade enforcement and action at the World Trade Organization. To strengthen our government's capacity to enforce trade agreements, I would double the USTR's trade enforcement budget which would reverse the 6% funding cut for the overall agency that President Bush proposed in his FY 2005 budget.
I will also make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to access our trade laws through the creation of a dedicated Small Business Advocacy Office, and I will call on the NEC and NSC to create an interagency task for enforcement in new, complex high-tech industries. The goal here is to ensure that our trading partners are not preying on our small businesses or capturing unfair advantages in new industries that are not yet fully understood.
I will move forcefully to stop illegal currency manipulation, and I will not be satisfied with token actions that continue to leave U.S. exporters at a serious price disadvantage.
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