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The US and South Korea this past weekend came to an agreement on a trade deal that President Obama is touting as a model for future deals particularly in Asia. The pact between the two countries had originally been signed three years ago but had not been ratified because of disputes over the auto and beef industries. Obama claims the deal will create 70,000 new jobs in the US, just days after the US posted an unemployment rate of 9.8% in November, the highest in the past 7 months. South Korean residents are angry about what they see as too high concessions on auto regulations, while the US beef industry was disappointed to see their access to the South Korean beef market remain restricted. Still, the deal is being touted as a “free-trade” deal. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Virginia just published a study based on comparing census data from 1990 and 2000, to examine the effects of the North America Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. NAFTA was launched in January 1994, and since then has been blamed for a huge loss of jobs on both sides of the border, as well as a driver of immigration from South to North. The study reveals dramatic evidence of job losses and wage reductions based on industries competing with Mexican imports.

GUESTS: John McLaren, Professor of Economics at the University of Virginia, Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch

Find out more at: www.tradewatch.org