Akron Beacon Journal: Strickland Should Admit Trade Agreements Good for Ohio

From the editors at the Akron Beacon Journal:

Ted Strickland repeated the charge in a speech last week, and the governor surely will do so again in his bid for re-election: John Kasich ''shipped American jobs overseas with his enthusiastic support for NAFTA and for most-favored nation trade status for China.'' Put aside that Canada and Mexico, the partners covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement can be reached by land. The governor asks his audience to overlook another element: Many Ohioans benefit from such trade deals, more 360,000 Ohio jobs tied to exports.

To be sure, Strickland has done his share of cheering for exports. So has Lee Fisher, the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate against Rob Portman, a former trade representative under George W. Bush. Both Strickland and Fisher enjoy sharing that Ohio was the only state in the country that saw exports increase each year from 1998 through 2008.

At the same time, they practice a brand of expedience. They invite Ohioans to adopt a fantasy about trade, that the country can reach agreements in which all American jobs are protected, a global economy version of ''tails I win, heads you lose.''

An Ohio looking to create jobs and prosper must expand its presence in foreign markets. Imagine the shape of the state economy if the state's exports did not exceed the national average in the first quarter of this year, increasing at an annual rate of 27 percent. Or if exports to China had not jumped from $292 million in 2001 to $1.9 billion in 2009.

The most dismaying aspect of the trade talk dished by Strickland and Fisher is the pandering to which they stoop, telling many Ohioans what they want to hear, blaming foreigners for the state's economic troubles. Yes, China can be a difficult trading partner. It can be hard work prying open Chinese markets. Yet trade relations hardly account for the full story of Ohio's economic troubles. Far more decisive have been the advance of technology (automation and the like) plus the failure of Ohioans to keep pace with a changing global market.

Trade relations are complicated. Not only do trading partners expect something comparable in return, they are equally determined to be competitive. More, when, say, American steelmakers call for protection, they put at risk the operating margins of steel consumers in this country, even auto companies, benefiting from lower prices resulting from competition.

Such subtleties are lost when Strickland and Fisher mount the stump. The hope is, someone as knowledgeable as Rob Portman in the area of trade (or as brash as Kasich) will deliver the compelling counterargument so rarely heard in these parts. Remember Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the primary season doing their share of pandering? They knew better, President Obama launching last week a bid to gain passage of trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. ...    

(Source: Editorial, Akron Beacon Jounral, 7/12/10)