Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
By Dave Wilson
The America Wins with Trade tour stopped in Portland, Oregon this morning at the manufacturing facility of Triad Speakers. President and CEO Larry Pexton and the terrific people at Triad gave us all a very warm welcome. We received a tour of the manufacturing facility where Triad manufactures its built-to-order loudspeakers, right here in America. The folks there turn stacks of wood into completely finished loudspeakers and have them packed up and shipped out the door in just a matter of hours. It’s very impressive.
Larry Pexton, CEO of Triad with one of their American-made loudspeakers.
The AWWT Tour’s first group of protesters.
While the bus was stopped in Portland a few protesters showed up to argue that America loses with free trade, and it got me thinking. What if everyone did as the anti-trade crowd would like? For example, what if Washington State slapped a hefty trade tax on all brands of coffee except those owned by Starbucks? In Seattle a Starbucks or Seattle’s Best latte might cost $5, but a Dunkin’ Donuts latte might cost $8 or $9. Great for Starbucks in Seattle, but not so great for Starbucks in Massachusetts after that state retaliates with its own trade tax on all coffee brands except those owned by Mass.-based Dunkin’. Then, fed up with the abuse Illinois-based McDonald’s is taking on the East and West Coasts, that state slaps a trade tax on all brands but Mickey D’s. Texas then jumps in on the action with a trade tax on all coffee but 7-Eleven. Pretty soon coffee everywhere is $15 a cup, except at Starbucks in Seattle, or McDonalds in Chicago, or Dunkin’ in Boston, or 7-Eleven in Dallas. Ultimately the lost sales in the rest of the country would do more harm to Starbucks than the company would gain from improved sales in Seattle. Sure, workers at Starbucks retail stores in Washington State might make out pretty well in this deal, but workers at Starbucks’ Seattle corporate headquarters would suffer as the fortunes of the company declined, and Starbucks workers in other states would suffer too.
The CEA America Wins with Trade Bus at Triad Speakers in Portand, Oregon.
This is what the free trade debate is all about, except we’re not just talking about coffee, and we’re talking about the interaction between different countries, not the interaction between different U.S. states. Without free trade many Americans suffer. Those who work here in the U.S. to export products oversees suffer. U.S. citizens working oversees for U.S. companies suffer. And American consumers suffer, too, as they’re forced to pay higher prices for goods and services. Should those who oppose free trade because they believe it hurts U.S. workers, well, wake up and smell the coffee?
Popularity: 45% [?]
August 20th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Good point..free trade sounds great..in theory..however, what usually happens is we in the USA have free trade with all and the people who sell to us don’t…hence we buy and money goes outside the USA and our products are not allowed to compete in a free un regulated marketplace and we don’t ever get the chance to play on an even playing field..
Yep, free trade sounds great…just tell that to the autoworkers who try to sell American cars in Korea..the import fees are so high no one but the super rich..multi millionaires..can afford to buy American…yet our market is flooded with Korean cars…..having lived in Korea for almost 10 years I know the Korean-Japanese Asian market…
Yes..I am in favor of free trade when it really is free trade on a two way street.
Troy in Texas
August 20th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Might I ask just who is the “anti-trade” crowd? Is anyone against trade? No, of course not, it’s just another straw man set up by the same folks who call “free trade” these arrangements like NAFTA that are simply all about reducing labor costs. It’s free to those who make money off others’ suffering, but for those on the other side of things it is lost jobs, lower wages, less benefits, and the resultant effects of these consequences such as more domestic violence and divorces.
In the coffee analogy, I noticed not only was any mention of lost jobs neglected–and if we keep jobs in this country, in the end more people would actually be able to afford that coffee because wages might actually rise with inflation instead of falling to lower and lower levels since this so-called free trade began–but you also did not mention how many people suffer in other countries just so coffee roasters can make more money (the price of a cup of coffee is a nice red herring, but no biting here). And this is not run of the mill stuff–we are talking murder, torture, and other such nice stuff that supporters of corporate free trade willfully ignore.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:29 am
How about letting your readers know where to find the video of the protest, and letting us speak for ourselves?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaZRuyiGucw
August 21st, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Thank you all for the comments. I’m coming to learn that we’re all in almost total agreement, and this is quite heartening.
You all want free trade. The consumer electronics industry wants free trade.
You all want workers around the world to be treated fairly. The consumer electronics industry wants workers around the world to be treated fairly.
The only place that we might differ is in how we make sure that the products we all purchase are produced by workers who are treated fairly. The consumer electronics industry strongly believes in a market-based approach where you, me, and all other consumers vote with our wallets and only purchase products made by workers who are treated fairly. We use tools like Consumer Reports and online consumer reviews to stay informed and keep each other informed, and we only purchase products made by workers who are treated fairly. In this manner companies that treat their workers fairly are rewarded with profits, and those that do not are not.
I hope you all will agree that this free market approach is the best, for it enables all of us to take action immediately and does not require government programs aimed at protecting foreign workers from abuse. Such programs, like the government initiatives aimed at protecting foreign people from their dictator leaders, and the government programs aimed at protecting U.S. citizens from hurricanes, will in my opinion never be as effective as an informed population taking action on its own.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I wonder if anyone really believes that “Free Trade” agreements are actually making the products we buy cheaper? I know we are fed this rhetoric, yet when I see Nike (as one of many many examples) use out of country labor, I wonder why their shoes cost as much as shoes made in the USA with USA jobs and labor. I wonder at the ability for Corporate America to sell to us that it is actually making our ability to afford more a reality. For my reality witnesses that what is really happening is that we are taking jobs to other countries with no oversite as to human rights violations, no benefits, workman’s comp, or pensions for these people, the loss of jobs, benefits, and pensions for my fellow Americans, and not at a savings for me, as I still pay the same price for the shoes (or whatever item bought) with the only one reaping the benefits are the corporations. And with the tax system the way it is, even the taxes are not recouped by the advantages of setting up corporations in a foreign county, selling in a foreign country…oh we have been sold on this, sold a bill of goods that is.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Dave–if you are truly concerned about workers’ rights, you would not be promoting a trade agreement with Colombia, a country where workers are routinely murdered when they attempt to improve working conditions.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:34 am
The fact is that there are many well paying jobs available in America, but many people simply don’t want to do them, or don’t want to spend the time or effort to learn how to do them. Those people are one half of the age-old debate about which is better, a well-paying sucky job or a poorly paying great job.
My perception of the free trade debate is that it’s fueled by people who perceive themselves to have well-paying good jobs, or who want well-paying good jobs. While of course that’s what everyone wants, the fact is not everyone can do what they want and get paid well for it. It’s those people who can’t find the well-paying work that they want who seek to have the government force (or strongly incentivize) someone to pay them well to do what they want.
Personally, I would like to be a golf course groundskeeper. But no one will pay me $100,000 a year to do this. And I’m realistic enough to realize that if everyone could do what they want and get paid well for it our economy would head down the toilet. We’d all have to pay $3,000 a year for trash pickup so the trash collector could make the living he wants, $25 for a Big Mac so the folks at McDonald’s could make what they want, and so on. The consequences would be particularly significant in the international market because no one in the rest of the world would be able to afford American airplanes from Boeing, American cars from Ford, or American computer chips from Intel, just to name a few.
I recognize that if there are other people in the world willing to do the work I’m doing for less I need to lower my asking price, or move on to a less desirable job that pays closer to what I want. I’ve been working in a field that doesn’t totally thrill me, but earns me a good living, for 20 years and 4 different employers. I’ve taken numerous courses to help me improve my value to my employers. If your employment situation isn’t working for you, move on. It’s the American way. This isn’t Columbia where, a protestor says, people who try to quit are murdered.
Would somebody please tell me the names of the companies in Columbia that are routinely murdering their workers? I want to avoid doing business with them.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am
The Americian people need to change our political system. Running for any office any more is about who is going to get rich by giving rebate (money) to the canidate who is running. If elected, you get your rebate plus thousands if not millions of dollars from this canidate. This money you receive is not the canidate’s money, but the tax payer’s money. This has got to stop, the taxpayer is being taken for a ride. These canidates are not just giving away the present taxpayers money, but the future taxpayer of America. Our national debt is out of control and it gets worse every minute. This bail out has got to be stopped with the present way things are going. The top brass of these companies are going to walkaway with millions if not billions of your dollars. These people should be stripped of all of their possessions and left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They (the present elected officials) are telling us that each on of these people are worth thousand of times more than a common person makes in his life time. These CEOs knew what they were doing. Greed and more Greed caused the problem and they are going to be rewared with your money. Wake up and smell the coffee. McCain stated that they should not get more than the president of the US makes. Thats $400,000. How long does it take you to make $400,000. A person making $7.50 and hour, working 2080 ((52 weeks) hours a year would take over 25 years to make this much money. Get the point. These people,their children and great grand children and so on will be living high off the hog with taxpayer money. This is their reward for being greedy. Let’s get rid of the present system and install a system that is fair to everyone.