SEPTEMBER 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Study: China trade wallops Oregon Jobs
STATEWIDE According to a recent study by a Washington
D.C.-based think tank, job loss due to trade with China has hit
Oregon harder than nearly any other state in the nation. The
report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that in the seven
years following the admission of China into the World Trade
Organization in 2001, trade with the country cost Oregon 2.9%
of its workforce — the fourth-largest drop.
According to the study, 2.3 million American jobs were lost or
displaced between 2001 and 2007 as the U.S. trade deficit with
China increased from $84 billion to $262 billion. The reasons
cited by the Institute for that deficit increase are well known
to the business community: China’s manipulation of its
currency, its non-tariff barriers to imports and its
suppression of labor rights.
However, the study may not have fully addressed some of the
factors that offset those losses. Art Ayre, employment
economist with the Oregon Employment Department, could not
comment on the specifics of the report. He did, however,
describe how his department had attempted to do a similar
analysis on job loss due to trade with Mexico but were stymied
by several factors, including that trade agreements create
cheaper goods for American consumers and help retain
high-paying domestic jobs, all of which creates more disposable
income, which in turn generates new jobs.
“We came to the conclusion that it was impossible to tell
what the impacts of trade [with Mexico] were,” Ayre
says.
Joy Margheim, a policy analyst with the Oregon Center for
Public Policy, says she hopes the Institute’s report will
remind state policy makers of the importance of safety nets
— such as job retraining programs — for
employees.
“In the past if you were laid off because of an economic
cycle, you could get your job back,” she says. “But
now we’re looking at permanent shifts in the
economy.”
ABRAHAM HYATT
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