By Joel Millman
Obama and Otellini in Oregon–all those “Os” seemed to spell agreement on a broad range of tech-policy issues when the president toured Intel’s facility west of Portland on Friday. But there was one small sign of discord, and trade with South Korea was the topic.
A few dozen protesters gathered just outside Intel’s property in Hillsboro, in advance of speeches inside the company’s campus by President Barak Obama and Intel CEO Paul Otellini. Arthur Stamoulis of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign denounced both for their support of a US-South Korea free trade pact, a draft of which the president is expected to send to Congress this month for ratification.
Many Democrats and Republicans support the measure, as do many big businesses like Intel–which books three-quarters of its revenue offshore. But three-quarters of its chips are fabricated in the U.S., the company argues, and exports mean jobs–so any measure that could help build a market for U.S. goods in South Korea is a good thing.
“Intel supports the President’s efforts to double exports,” said Tom Waldrop, an Intel spokesman. He added that while the free trade agreement with South Korea is “not perfect,” it does enough of the things it is supposed to do. Intel believes it deserves support, Waldrop said.
The protesters weren’t buying it. They said that even in Oregon’s high-tech corridor competition from Asia threatens jobs.
Stamoulis cited an April 2010 study commissioned by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, that showed Oregon’s 1st Congressional District, which is home to Intel and the state’s so-called “Silicon Forest,” lost a net 14,600 jobs due to imbalanced trade with China between 2001 and 2008, the period after Congress voted to allow China to join the World Trade Organization. The job loss represented 3.76% of the district’s total employment, making it one of the hardest hit in the entire nation, Stamoulis said.
“There’s a clear track-record of trade-related job loss in Oregon’s high-tech sector due to past trade policies. Passing the Korea Free Trade Agreement will only continue that trend,” he added. “People are having a hard enough time finding decent work without our elected officials making things even harder.
“It’s a message that the President and members of Congress need to hear. What’s good for Intel might not necessarily be good for Intel employees.”
Stamoulis is taking job loss numbers during a bitter American economy 2001-2008 and attempting to claim those losses are direct link to trade with China. Really? That’s a terrible skew of numbers. Show me something more accurate and how those numbers directly link with China.
Secondly, he’s complaining about allowing more free trade and somehow correlating that with creating job loss. I’ll use an Intel as in example in this article, 3/4 of the manufacturing is done in the US thus creating jobs (that’s good), 3/4 of the product is exported (also good because that makes Intel money which in turn creates more jobs as demands go up). Intel announced it will be creating an additional 4,000 jobs in Arizona along with another 3,000 in Oregon for the earlier announced fab construction. This is good for Oregon, Arizona, and America.
And to the comment above, lower taxes for companies makes more companies want to stay in Oregon and creates jobs. If we raise taxes for companies, the companies will go elsewhere to build and that’s bad for Oregon workers and business. Sorry, but I don’t see the negative in any of this – 7,000 jobs over the next couple years sounds pretty good to me. Those jobs created at Intel rolls over to those employees spending more money in the local economy which in turn creates even more jobs at local businesses. We need to keep big business in Oregon, this is a good thing for Oregon workers and business.
lower tax for companies and higher tax for people that is exactly what will finish american middle class. good job oregon!
Obama and Congressional Democrats kiss Republicans as* so much they need to keep a can of Lysol disinfectant around.