Global Trade Under Attack . . . Again
 |
Like most car dealers, I’m a fairly optimistic guy. You have to be, to make it in this business. For every car you buy, you have to believe you can sell it. For every employee you hire, you have to believe they’ll be a hard worker. For every new store you build, you have to believe it will be a success.
However, there is a difference between optimism and sticking your head in the sand.
We international nameplate dealers would be sticking our heads in the sand if we ignored the protectionist movement that is gaining momentum inside of D.C. and around the country. Anti-trade voices, funded by labor unions and given strength by a democratic majority in Congress, say that by limiting trade they can improve the United States’ economic outlook. Of course, history has proven them wrong, many times.
Global trade doesn’t hurt our economy, it helps it grow. As I wrote a month ago, Congress is putting the brakes on global trade, refusing to ratify three pending free trade agreements and offering up more than 90 pieces of self-defeating “Buy American” legislation. As a result, America’s economic problems have worsened. In October, unemployment reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent. The dollar is at its weakest international value since 1967. According to the Chamber of Commerce, U.S. reluctance to participate in global trade could cost us $40.2 billion in exports and 383,400 American jobs.
But that hasn’t slowed down the protectionist movement.
Recently, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler have started a war of words with the Japanese. Detroit has lambasted the Japanese government for setting the emissions standards for its own Cash for Clunkers program ’too high,’ and excluding most non-Asian-branded vehicles. They ignore the fact that in Japan, the program is meant to achieve both economic and environmental goals. They also conveniently forget that they once supported making the United States’ Clunkers program open only to domestic vehicles.
Detroit’s trade policy arm, the American Automotive Policy Council, has leapt on this Japanese clunkers issue as an opportunity to attack America’s trade policy with Japan. Worryingly, the United State Trade Representative’s office, part of the Obama administration, is supporting them and has vowed to raise the issue with the Japanese government. Longtime dealers will be reminded of Yogi Berra’s comment: “This is déjà vu all over again.”
Optimism is all well and good, but dealers must keep their eyes open on this issue. AIADA will continue to keep its dealers up to date on the latest attacks on trade, and on our industry. When prompted, use the association as a resource to contact your legislators and let them know why trade works. Together, we can beat back protectionism.
Russ Darrow
AIADA
Chairman
