[ti:Lawmakers Debate How to Deal with Free Trade's Results]
[ar:Mario Ritter]
[al:Economics Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]The United States Senate recently passed a measure
[00:03.86]called Trade Promotion Authority.
[00:06.67]Under the bill,
[00:07.86]the Congress can only vote for or against a trade agreement
[00:12.95]once it has been negotiated.
[00:15.93]This ability to "fast-track" such agreements would be important
[00:22.05]when Congress considers possible trade deals
[00:26.03]with Asian and Pacific countries and also Europe.
[00:30.81]But the issue of free trade can fuel a debate about U.S. jobs.
[00:36.93]Many labor unions and Democratic Party members
[00:41.36]support a little-known federal program for American workers.
[00:47.05]It is called the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program.
[00:51.93]It provides financial assistance to those who lose their job
[00:58.01]because of increased foreign competition.
[01:01.95]Conservatives say the program is ineffective and costs too much.
[01:08.52]However, a former steel worker who spoke with VOA
[01:13.77]says the program works and should be expanded.
[01:18.22]Michael Smith worked at the Bethlehem Steel Mill
[01:23.15]in Sparrows Point, Maryland.
[01:25.58]The mill was once a major producer of steel.
[01:30.08]It employed as many as 30,000 Americans.
[01:34.26]Mr. Smith was a crane operator with Bethlehem Steel for 13 years.
[01:41.19]Recently, he returned to the grounds.
[01:44.97]"I remember what this place used to be.
[01:48.21]I remember the sights, the sounds, the tractors.
[01:51.95]It's actually hard physically standing here.
[01:54.74]I mean, my heart hurts."
[01:56.13]The mill closed in 2012 as a result
[01:59.96]of a series of business decisions and increasing global competition.
[02:05.59]That left Mr. Smith and 2,500 mill workers
[02:10.27]with no jobs and few marketable skills.
[02:14.25]"I was blessed enough to find a program
[02:17.90]called TRA ((Trade Readjustment Allowance)) and TAA ((Trade Adjustment Assistance)),
[02:20.68]which is a union bargain benefit that was provided to us."
[02:24.27]The TAA program gave Mr. Smith a weekly stipend.
[02:29.40]He used his retraining assistance to pay for books and school tuition fees.
[02:36.17]He recently completed his college studies
[02:40.21]and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology.
[02:44.74]Michael Smith's experience with the program was good.
[02:49.32]However, many conservatives say TAA is wasteful and ineffective.
[02:57.04]Dan Ikenson studies trade policies for the Cato Institute research group.
[03:03.11]He says that for every job lost to trade,
[03:07.65]30 jobs are lost for other reasons. He spoke to VOA on Skype.
[03:13.93]"My first question is: why should we treat people who lose jobs
[03:17.67]or can tie their job loss in some way to trade
[03:20.75]any differently than we treat other people who lose their jobs?"
[03:24.05]Dan Ikenson says trade creates more winners than losers.
[03:29.03]Instead of government aid,
[03:31.68]he says manufacturers are better equipped to retrain displaced workers.
[03:38.11]"They complain a lot about the dearth of skilled workers,
[03:42.86]and if they were incentivized to hire people
[03:47.95]just to train them in exchange for them agreeing to work,
[03:51.38]maybe for a year or two afterwards,
[03:53.39]that might work a lot better than trade adjustment assistance does."
[03:57.07]The Senate voted to extend the 400-million dollar program
[04:01.41]as part of a fast-track bill
[04:04.10]to speed pending free trade deals with Pacific countries.
[04:08.89]The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the trade legislation.
[04:15.16]I'm Mario Ritter.
[04:17.91]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ21VOA.COM.