While President Barack Obama has attacked Mitt Romney for advising
businesses that outsourced jobs, many of the executives on the
president's own jobs creation council run or advise companies that
import cheaper overseas goods instead of buying American alternatives,
U.S. trade records show.
Commerce Department import records reviewed by the Washington Guardian show the companies affiliated with the 23 active and 3 ex-officio members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness imported 12,366 shipments from China alone -- totaling more than 20 billion pounds in weight -- during the 18 months since they began advising the White House in January 2011.
Just over half the council members were affiliated with firms that reported Chinese imports ranging from bulk steel and furniture to airline parts, appliance electronics and cosmetics.
The Made-in-China track record of the Jobs Council members has frustrated some labor unions key to the president's re-election, and could complicate Obama's strategy against his Republican opponent by illustrating that outsourcing is increasingly inevitable in a global economy.
“Why is stuff outsourced? The answer is, in those cases the work abroad is much cheaper than it is in the United States,” explained James T. Bennett, a George Mason University economics professor. “It’s market forces that create outsourcing of jobs, and it does not matter who is president. It is going to continue.”
Read more: http://www.washingtonguardian.com/outsource-outrage
Commerce Department import records reviewed by the Washington Guardian show the companies affiliated with the 23 active and 3 ex-officio members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness imported 12,366 shipments from China alone -- totaling more than 20 billion pounds in weight -- during the 18 months since they began advising the White House in January 2011.
Just over half the council members were affiliated with firms that reported Chinese imports ranging from bulk steel and furniture to airline parts, appliance electronics and cosmetics.
The Made-in-China track record of the Jobs Council members has frustrated some labor unions key to the president's re-election, and could complicate Obama's strategy against his Republican opponent by illustrating that outsourcing is increasingly inevitable in a global economy.
“Why is stuff outsourced? The answer is, in those cases the work abroad is much cheaper than it is in the United States,” explained James T. Bennett, a George Mason University economics professor. “It’s market forces that create outsourcing of jobs, and it does not matter who is president. It is going to continue.”
Read more: http://www.washingtonguardian.com/outsource-outrage
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