CIAO DATE: 06/02

Free Trade and Worker Displacement: The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act and the Case of NAFTA

Trade liberalization, and NAFTA in particular, have increasingly become contentious domestic political issues in recent years. The debate over U.S. job gains and losses due to international trade rages relentlessly. At the same time, as U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao points out, the "new economy is 'deconstructing' work . . . ," bringing sweeping changes to the workplace, with dramatic shifts in sector and industry competitiveness and the required skill sets of workers. For those who have been negatively affected by trade and investment shifts, the authors seek to answer the following questions:

• How has the U.S. government addressed worker displacement through trade assistance adjustment programs?

• How satisfied are organized labor and Congress with these programs?

• What appropriate responses should government, labor, and business consider to bolster worker displacement assistance, retraining, and competitiveness?

Full Text (PDF)