Dear Editor: The elites of Washington, Democrats and Republicans have heralded free trade as the answer to a significantly better world economy. These elites have given up what is necessary to get a signature. Problem is the results over the last 8 years, data I collected but is proportional through the Clinton and Bush years, shows how much money has left America. Data below illustrates the wealth transfer from America to our trading partners. Negative Negative Year World Trade Balance China Trade Balance 2008 ($696 Billion) ($268 Billion) 2009 ($380 Billion) ($226 Billion) 1010 ($498 Billion) ($270 Billion) 2011 ($560 Billion) ($295 Billion) 2012 ($540 Billion) ($315 Billion) 2013 ($476 Billion) ($318 Billion) 2014 ($505 Billion) ($344 Billion) 2015 ($531 Billion) ($367 Billion) Total ($4.186 Trillion) ($2.40 Billion) The United States has exported on average $523 billion dollars per year to our trading partners worldwide of which an average of $301 billion per year goes to China. To put these dollars in perspective, in 2015 China spent the equivalent of $144.2 Billion dollars on its military, a 10.1% increase year over year. That leaves China, on average, $156.8 Billion each year to buy American assets or to invest in assets worldwide or at home. This also left the American taxpayer without their expenditures being reinvested in America. This lack of reinvestment also negated the multiplier effect. So it’s no wonder the blue collar worker has lost purchasing power over the past 8 years. Hillary not only wants to maintain the inequities of NAFTA, she wants to double down by adding TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, to our current FREE trade account which is estimated to significantly add to our negative annual trade deficit. Both the NAFTA and TPP will give significant advantage to multinational corporations at the expense of everything else i.e. democracy, sovereignty, and the citizens of the United States. Hillary has called the TPP the Gold standard of trade agreements while Mr. Trump wants fair trade. Can we afford the FREE as espoused by Secretary Clinton? Frank Tuckwiller Lewisburg
