President Barack Obama has introduced the Korea, Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements to Congress.

In a time when jobs are so scarce in this country, we at Maine Free Trade Campaign believe that this is the wrong direction to go for economic growth.

The devastating effect that NAFTA has had on Maine’s economy can be felt throughout the state, and pursuing new trade agreements based on the same failed model will only continue to facilitate the offshoring and outsourcing of good jobs in this country.

These trade agreements define a time in our nation when we will find out if our representatives will side with wealthy corporations looking to offshore more jobs in the name of increased profits, or hard-working Americans who are already struggling to get by.

We would like to recognize the fact that U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree have come out as being strongly opposed to these agreements. Sen. Olympia Snowe has publicly stated her opposition to the Korean and Colombian agreements.

Sen. Susan Collins should do what’s right for her constituents and stand with the rest of Maine’s congressional delegation in opposition to these job-killing agreements.

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The finding of the U.S. International Trade Commission, usually an advocate of NAFTA-style trade agreements, is that passing these proposals as written would not only ignore our massive trade deficit, it would increase it.

Congress should send these job-eliminating pacts back to be renegotiated, so that President Obama’s promises of trade reform can be met and the American economy can get back on track.

At a time when we need to create more jobs for American workers, Congress and the president are moving in the opposite direction by pushing forward with these trade agreements with Korea, Panama and Colombia.

Too many Mainers have seen their jobs move overseas because of these bad trade deals.

It’s been two years since Debbie Kendall, a former Otis Paper Mill worker from Livermore, lost the job she held for 25 years because the mill couldn’t compete with other paper producers under the NAFTA model that these new agreements are based on.

She had a good-quality, good-paying job, lost because of free-trade agreements.

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More American workers are going to lose everything if these things pass.

When we create agreements that imbalances the playing field in favor of foreign corporations, we ensure the loss of manufacturing jobs and the offshoring of service jobs. We see examples of these losses every day right here in our state.

Prior to NAFTA, rural Maine had a thriving economy. Manufacturing and mills were the lifeblood of our communities.

What’s left after just that one free trade agreement?

Now we are pursuing three new agreements that will kill jobs and further destroy our economy in a time of 9 percent unemployment. All so that corporations can become richer?

Stephan Donnell is president of the Maine Fair Trade Campaign and a worker at the Bucksport paper mill. Troy Haines is director of the Maine Fair Trade Campaign, 238 Goddard Road Lewiston, ME 04240. Call 551-1301 or email to troy@mainefairtrade .org


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