NAFTA Displaces Southern Jobs

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) cost the South 291,157 more jobs than it created between 1993 and 2004, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C.

Approximately 30 percent of all the jobs lost nationwide to NAFTA came from Southern states. Texas, Florida and North Carolina ranked among the 10 states that lost the most jobs due to NAFTA. Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama joined those states in the top 20. The overwhelming majority of lost jobs came from the manufacturing sector.

EPI's report concludes that NAFTA should serve as a cautionary tale for the pending Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), which is modeled on NAFTA and could cost the South even more jobs.

"Without major changes in NAFTA ... continued integration of North American markets will threaten a growing share of the U.S. workforce. Expansion of NAFTA-style agreements ... will only worsen these problems and displace production that could support more U.S. jobs."