May, 09 2014, 01:56pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lori Wallach (202) 454-5107, lwallach@citizen.org
Ira Arlook (202) 258-5437, ira@fenton.com
Release of Two Years of Korea FTA Data Throws More Cold Water on Obama TPP and Fast Track Efforts After Asia Trip Fails to Change Dynamic
The just-released official U.S. government trade data covering the first two years of the U.S.-Korea "free trade" agreement (FTA) further chills the prospects for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Fast Track trade authority. Today's release of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data likely will intensify congressional antipathy toward Fast Track and concerns about the TPP. The USITC data, corrected to remove re-exports not produced in the United States, show falling U.S. exports to Korea and a ballooning U.S.
WASHINGTON
The just-released official U.S. government trade data covering the first two years of the U.S.-Korea "free trade" agreement (FTA) further chills the prospects for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Fast Track trade authority. Today's release of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data likely will intensify congressional antipathy toward Fast Track and concerns about the TPP. The USITC data, corrected to remove re-exports not produced in the United States, show falling U.S. exports to Korea and a ballooning U.S. trade deficit under the Korea FTA, which served as the U.S. template for the TPP.
U.S. goods exports to Korea have dropped 5 percent under the Korea FTA's first two years, compared to the two years before FTA implementation, in contrast to the Obama administration's promise that the Korea FTA would mean "more exports, more jobs" and recent claims that the agreement has shown "strong results." Imports into the United States from Korea have climbed 8 percent under the FTA (an increase of $4.7 billion per year).
From the year before the FTA took effect to its second year of implementation, the U.S. goods trade deficit with Korea swelled 50 percent (a $7.6 billion increase). In 23 out of 24 months since the Korea FTA took effect, the U.S. goods trade deficit with Korea has exceeded the average monthly level seen in the two years before the deal. The trade deficit increase under the FTA indicates the loss of more than 50,000 U.S. jobs, according the trade-jobs ratio that the Obama administration used to project gains from the deal.
"The fact that the Korea deal has resulted in a worsetrade deficit and more lost jobs has had a very chilling effect on public and congressional support for the TPP and Fast Track, and the Obama administration's dishonest claims that the pact has expanded exports has only hardened that opposition," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "While most Democrats and a sizeable bloc of Republicans in Congress have already voiced opposition to Fast Tracking the TPP, both the negative outcomes of the Korea FTA and the administration's dishonest claim that the pact is a success are adding more converts daily."
Rather than acknowledge that the Korea pact has resulted in declining U.S. exports and a larger trade deficit, the administration's Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has relied on data omissions and distortions in press materials that attempt to paint failure as success. For a full response to the USTR's litany of data errors, visit https://www.citizen.org/documents/Korea-FTA-USTR-data-debunk.pdf.
The USTR's biggest distortion is counting foreign-made products that are simply shipped through the United States en route to Korea as "U.S. exports" to Korea. Rather than use the official U.S. government trade data provided by the USITC that counts only U.S.-made exports, USTR cites data that treat the 14 percent rise in foreign-made exports to Korea under the FTA as a boost to U.S. exports, artificially diminishing the dramatic U.S. export downfall.
The USTR relies on a series of other data errors in attempt to hide the dismal Korea FTA record, including:
* Failing to account for inflation: By treating a rise in prices as a rise in exports, the USTR mistakenly claims that the observed decrease in U.S. exports to Korea in manufactured goods under the FTA is an increase.
* Ignoring aggregate losses to cherry-pick tiny winning sectors: The USTR does not mention the overall 34 percent downfall in U.S. agricultural exports to Korea under the FTA's first two years. Instead, the USTR boasts export increases in products like fruit and wine. The combined annual export gains in fruit and wine amount to $69 million, less than 6 percent of the more than $1.2 billion aggregate annual export loss in agricultural products.
* Using a selective timeframe: The USTR's assessment of the Korea FTA record ignores 12 months of available data under the FTA and fails to include in the pre-FTA baseline of comparison the three months of data immediately prior to the deal's implementation. This selective timeframe, combined with the decision to incorporate foreign-made exports, allows the USTR to claim that the U.S. export downfall under the FTA is entirely because of diminished exports in corn and fossil fuels. But even after discounting both corn and fossil fuels, the full set of data shows that U.S. exports to Korea have still fallen under the FTA, and the U.S. trade deficit with Korea has still ballooned.
"The USTR's resort to major data deceptions to try to play down the debacle of the Korea FTA indicates just how desperate the administration is to shake the mounting evidence that the FTA model it now seeks to expand with the TPP costs U.S. jobs," said Wallach. "But using data tricks to try to cover up the failure of the largest Obama trade deal, like treating foreign-made products as U.S. exports, is likely to backfire, and members of Congress do not take kindly to deception."
The decline in U.S. exports to Korea under the FTA's first two years was broad-based; of the 15 U.S. sectors that export the most to Korea, nine of them have experienced export declines under the FTA. Export shifts under the FTA have been larger for losing sectors than for winning sectors. Of the 15 top export sectors, eight have seen declines in exports to Korea of greater than 5 percent while only three have seen growth of exports to Korea of greater than 5 percent.
Many of the sectors that the administration promised would be the biggest beneficiaries of the FTA have been among the largest losers, including U.S. meat producers. U.S. poultry exports to Korea have plummeted 31 percent under the FTA, while U.S. beef and pork exports have fallen 10 and 19 percent respectively.
The U.S. automotive industry, another promised winner under the deal, has endured a surge in automotive imports from Korea that has swamped a marginal increase in U.S. automotive exports to Korea since the FTA took effect. While U.S. average annual automotive exports to Korea under the pact have been $294 million higher than before the deal, average annual automotive imports from Korea have soared by $4.9 billion under the deal, spurring a 32 percent increase in the U.S. automotive trade deficit with Korea.
Overall, U.S. export growth to countries with pacts like the Korea FTA has been particularly lackluster. Growth of U.S. exports to countries that are not FTA partners has exceeded U.S. export growth to FTA partners by 30 percent over the past decade.
For further analysis of the outcomes of the Korea FTA's first two years, visit https://www.citizen.org/documents/Korea-FTA-USTR-data-debunk.pdf.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Pro-Genocide Mob Attacks Nonviolent Encampment, Beats Students at UCLA
Encampment organizers called the assault "nothing less than a horrifying, despicable act of terror."
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A pro-Israel mob violently attacked a Gaza solidarity encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles overnight Tuesday, hurling fireworks at the structure and beating demonstrators as campus security and city police stood by.
Los Angeles Times higher education journalist Teresa Watanabe reported that members of the pro-Israel mob used explicitly genocidal language as they ripped down encampment barriers, yelling, "Second Nakba!"—a reference to the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in 1948.
Pro-Israel counterprotestors started tearing down @UCLA encampment barriers and screamed "Second nakba!" referring to the mass displacement & dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Per @latimes @safinazzal on the scene with another video: pic.twitter.com/zSplnd1bYO
— Teresa Watanabe (@TeresaWatanabe) May 1, 2024
At one point, a student stepped out from behind the encampment walls to confront the mob, which quickly swarmed the student and brutally attacked him while he was on the ground attempting to shield his face from the blows.
200+ pro-Israel counterprotestors are attacking the @UCLA pro-Palestinian encampment. They started beating on one student and stomped another under a plywood board per @latimes @safinazzal on the scene. Where is UCLA security? pic.twitter.com/zjYNFWSK7r
— Teresa Watanabe (@TeresaWatanabe) May 1, 2024
Organizers of the UCLA encampment, which—like others on campuses across the U.S.—is aimed at pressuring the university to divest from companies profiting off Israel's war on Gaza, said in a statement that the attack was "nothing less than a horrifying, despicable act of terror" and condemned the university for doing nothing to keep students safe.
UCLA administrators have deemed the encampment "unlawful" and threatened participants with suspension or expulsion.
"For over seven hours, Zionist aggressors hurled gas canisters, sprayed pepper spray, and threw fireworks and bricks into our encampment," organizers said. "They broke our barriers repeatedly, clearly in an attempt to kill our community."
They added that campus security officers left the scene of the violence "within minutes" and "external security the university hired for 'backup' watched, filmed, and laughed on the side as the immediate danger inflicted upon us escalated."
"Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help," the statement continued. "The only means of protection we had was each other. We keep each other safe."
The passivity of campus security and Los Angeles police in the face of violence from the pro-Israel mob at UCLA drew comparisons to the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians are regularly harassed and attacked by settlers as Israeli soldiers watch—and often participate.
The Daily Bruin, which had student reporters on the scene, reported that "security and UCPD both retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment."
"There has been a minimal police presence on campus despite multiple events of counter-protesters antagonizing the encampment since Thursday," the newspaper added. "UCPD Chief of Police John Thomas said to The Daily Bruin that the force only had around five to six officers on duty. Officers came under attack while trying to help an injured person, and so they left."
The inaction of UCLA security and local police contrasts sharply with the vicious crackdowns on nonviolent pro-Palestinian demonstrators at universities across the country, including Columbia University in New York City late Tuesday.
Early Wednesday, The Daily Bruin published an editorial denouncing Chancellor Gene Block for doing so little "to ensure the protection of students who exercise their rights."
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Hundreds of New York City police officers descended on Columbia University Tuesday night to arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian student protesters and dismantle a Gaza solidarity encampment that inspired campus protests across the United States, with demonstrators calling on their schools to divest from companies profiting off Israel's devastating war.
Police, some wearing riot gear, entered Columbia's campus at the request of the university's president, Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to "clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall and all campus encampments."
Video footage shows officers entering a campus building that students occupied hours earlier, renaming it "Hind's Hall" after a 6-year-old girl who was killed by Israeli forces earlier this year. The Columbia Daily Spectator, the university's student newspaper, reported that "as they entered the building, officers threw down the metal and wooden tables barricading the doors and shattered the glass on the leftmost doors of Hamilton to enter with shields in hand."
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Footage of NYPD tactical teams raiding and clearing Columbia University. pic.twitter.com/roUe9Dp7Vb
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) May 1, 2024
Other footage shows NYPD officers forcing their way through students who locked arms in front of the occupied campus building. One cop is seen kneeing a student on the ground.
Students reported that police used tear gas, which is banned in war, on demonstrators.
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NYPD just raided the Columbia campus and broken into the Hamilton building making dozens of violent arrests against students both outside and those occupying inside. pic.twitter.com/7wMp3EctZF
— Gerard (@GerardDalbon) May 1, 2024
As police set up barricades around the perimeter of the campus, onlookers gathered and chanted, "Let the students go!" in solidarity with the arrested demonstrators.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said he was "outraged" by the police presence at both Columbia and the City College of New York, writing on social media that the "militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy."
"I call upon the Columbia administration to stop this dangerous escalation before it leads to further harm," Bowman added, "and allow the faculty back onto campus so that all parties can collectively come to a solution that centers humanity over hate."
“Let the students go.”
Crowds gather outside the police barricade surrounding Columbia University to demonstrate solidarity with student protesters.
Police have arrested multiple pro-Palestinian demonstrators after entering the campus. pic.twitter.com/0Ut6HHPWhB
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 1, 2024
In a letter to the New York City Police Department on Tuesday, Shafik—who is facing mounting calls to resign—requested that officers maintain a presence on Columbia's campus "through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."
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Police actions, approved by the leaders of some universities and cheered on by right-wing government officials, have drawn international rebukes. In a statement Tuesday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he is "concerned that some of law enforcement actions across a series of universities appear disproportionate in their impacts."
"U.S. universities have a strong, historic tradition of student activism, strident debate and freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, "Türk said. "It must be clear that legitimate exercises of the freedom of expression cannot be conflated with incitement to violence and hatred."
Observers were quick to note the parallels between the police crackdown on civil rights and anti-war protests at Columbia in 1968 and Tuesday's raid.
The Columbia Spectator, New York, Tuesday, April 30, 1968: https://t.co/4sNEDQ38Ks pic.twitter.com/2GO9MwUdx7
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 1, 2024
Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said in response to the police invasion of Columbia Tuesday that "the U.S. has funded and supported the Israeli government's oppression of Palestinians for decades, with private institutions across the country profiting from the same."
Organizers have specifically demanded that Columbia divest its nearly $14 billion endowment from Caterpillar, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Elbit Systems, Mekorot, Hapoalim, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin.
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After disputing more than 100 patents in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Orange Book in November, the FTC on Tuesday sent warning letters to 10 companies and notified the agency that it challenges the accuracy or relevance of over 300 listing across 20 different brand name products.
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Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program advocate, Steve Knievel, said that "it's becoming harder for drug corporations to use patent shenanigans to thwart competition, thanks to the FTC and Chair Lina Khan."
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