From OFF THE CUFF for July 13, 2012
The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted a study on the benefits of trade by The Trade Partnership, an Associate Member of USA-ITA. In an op-ed, columnist Douglas Irwin cites The Trade Partnership’s Laura Baughman and Joseph Francois: “Congress and the administration continue to flirt with new ‘Buy American’ provisions, drawing the ire of Canada and other trade partners. Yet economists Laura Baughman and Joseph Francois calculated that if foreign retaliation led U.S. companies to lose just 1% of the potential sales opportunities created by foreign stimulus programs, U.S. exporters would lose over 200,000 jobs. This would far exceed the 43,000 jobs supposedly created by the ‘Buy American’ preferences included in the 2009 stimulus bill.” The figures are from a September 2009 study, published in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, titled, “Trade Action–or Inaction: The Cost for American Workers and Companies.”