I agree at least in part. The problem is that there are so many factors involved in the equation.
I mean NAFTA gets a lot of press, but there are other factors at work. The destruction of unions is a big part of decreasing wages. But I think the continued mechanization of the workforce plays the biggest part. So just pointing the finger at a trade deal doesn't tell the whole story.
Our trade deals have helped us in a lot of ways. We make more Buicks for the Chinese market, we now have Honda, Toyota and Nissan plants in the US. Our farmers have benefited in a big way from NAFTA. But the problem is that any benefits are more than offset by the advances in efficient manufacture and production. So sure, we have car plants here, but they employ 1/10th the number of people they used to. And it is like this in every manufacturing sector. And farming is even worse. As a child I remember many dozens of local farms here in rural WNY. These have been replaced by a handful of massive farms who operate on a minuscule staff.
So I don't think the solutions are easy. It's not as simple as putting in tariffs and the jobs miraculously come back. The reality is that tariffs will mean lost jobs from many American companies who rely on foreign sales (mine being one of them). And those companies that do bring manufacturing back will do so with even more efficient factories.
I agree that mechanization is a reality that is just a part of progress. I get that. Still, why not just have mechanized factories here in America? I don't see it as a justification for free trade or outsourcing, so with all due respect, I'm going to discard that argument and consider it irrelevant.
The issue is wages. By imposing tariffs, it will compel employers to pay Americans better wages which will put upward pressure on wages in other sectors of the economy as well.
I see most businesses as being Machiavellian in all of this. They'll try to find whatever way to undercut or avoid having to pay people what they're worth.
Whether it's through outsourcing to countries where people are so desperate they'll take whatever wage they can get, or by turning the blind eye to employers exploiting undocumented workers as another way of getting cheap labor.
I've seen it accompanied by blatant misinformation and malice towards American workers, such as the idea that "they do jobs Americans won't do" (patently false) or that Americans are "lazy," "spoiled," "don't have a good work ethic," "too demanding," etc. These are the same people who claim that they "need" to outsource and/or hire undocumented workers.
It's just pure labor exploitation.
If they want robots to do all the work, okay, fine. I have no problem with that, as long as the people get some sort of unconditional monthly income where they can still get enough to live and not have to worry about work or struggle on two or three jobs just to survive. That's no way to live, yet that's what tens of millions of people in America have to do every day. The worst part is, there's no practical or logical reason behind these gross disparities, other than some people's philosophical (aka "religious") view that "that's how things ought to be." Because capitalism.
