America’s labor movement has been the bellwether on trade policy for decades. Gains made by union members who bargain collectively for fair pay, benefits and working conditions have been stolen by multinational corporations that violate trade laws and outsource to countries with low or nonexistent environmental and labor standards.
Efforts by union members to prevent occupational disease, and ensure clean air and water, safe working conditions and a good job were told countless times at the bargaining table by companies to not ask for too much or they will ship jobs overseas because global trade practices put profits above all other considerations.
Previous administrations from both parties have failed to heed legitimate concerns of working people about the ramifications of globalization and trade policies that put near-term profits over American jobs. Responsible domestic companies, workers and unions were left to spend millions of dollars on trade enforcement cases to protect communities hollowed out by dumped and illegally subsidized goods.
The use of tariffs to ensure fair trade are legitimate policy tools. However, the weaponization of tariffs to extract concessions unrelated to fair trade enforcement and predatory trade practices that result in deindustrialization, creates chaos without the promise of a better tomorrow and domestic job creation.
Rebalancing trade, defending U.S. jobs against bad labor laws, and protecting our clear air and water are all reasons to seek a 21st century tariff policy dovetailed with a meaningful industrial policy.
Tariffs without a plan will lead to economic harm and that is why the AFL-CIO resolves to push Congress and the Trump administration to ensure:
- Hardworking Americans are not harmed by the implementation of tariffs for the sake of tariffs. Corporations like Amazon and Walmart already reap massive gains from the lowest U.S. corporate tax rates in a century. The administration and Congress must hold accountable large companies who try to pass the cost of unfettered tariffs onto consumers or use such tariffs as an excuse to artificially inflate prices.
- Tariffs are dynamic and for economic purposes that will lead to lasting change. Countries across the globe suppress wages and let manufacturers pollute their environment and dump their products into the U.S. market. Congress should permanently change the use of tariffs to adjust for these factors without loopholes.
- Tariffs are combined with a trade and industrial policy, which includes the continuation of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, that grows U.S. jobs, defends democracy, and holds accountable violators of illegal trade practices.
- Countries, like Canada, which have a unique relationship with the United States not only through defense and manufacturing integration, but also labor integration as multiple unions have worked bilaterally for decades to improve wages, benefits, hours of work and working conditions, should not face unnecessary blanket tariffs.
- More is done for workers and businesses negatively impacted by trade, including updating our trade enforcement laws to give companies a leg up against illegal trade practices, and renewing strong job training programs such as trade adjustment assistance when the worst happens.
Unions, farmers, environmental groups, and communities need a proactive government that is swift and responsive. Tariffs have to be part of that conversation with a strategic and meaningful plan to rebuild and advance manufacturing in America. Without a plan to rebuild and support our industrial base, renegade corporations will continue outsourcing jobs to foreign countries that cheat the system, and passing tariff costs to consumers while reaping record profits and reducing national security.