Rep. Ted Deutch: Trade Agreements 'Escalate Global Race for Cheap Labor'

Though three free-trade agreements were cleared by the White House and passed by wide margins in both the House and Senate Wednesday evening, Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, voted nay.

"In the midst of unprecedented long-term unemployment, I cannot support trade agreements that repeat the mistakes of previous trade deals that shipped millions of American jobs overseas and exploded our national trade deficit," Deutch said in a statement.

"These proposed pacts will only escalate the global race for cheap labor in nations with poor human rights records. The Colombia deal will increase the availability of cheap labor with historically poor worker protections. Likewise, the proposed agreement with South Korea ensures that the United States would be flooded with products built not in Korea, but with cheap Chinese and North Korean labor.

"The free-trade agreement with Panama also adds additional barriers to American companies seeking contracts for projects expanding the Panama Canal. Furthermore, the agreement safeguards Panama's status as a notorious offshore haven for corporations that blatantly dodge U.S. tax laws," Deutch said.

Saying he supports agreements that "reduce our devastating trade deficit and encourage job growth in our own country," the congressman added: "We should not consider new trade agreements without also addressing currency manipulation by China, which could create up to 2.5 million American jobs."

"Unfortunately, these free-trade deals do not pass that test," he concluded.