Thank you, Chair.
Thanks to all of you for your presentations.
I'm going to start my questions with you, Mr. Fisher. Just this past weekend, I held my 17th town hall. At my town halls, I'm now attracting Americans who want to learn more about the goings-on in regard to trade in particular. Some of those who attended were quite surprised to hear about how integrated our supply chains are and to hear that any disruption could mean job losses on both sides of the border.
I want to start with this quote:
Some of its harshest critics concede that NAFTA should not be held entirely responsible for the recent loss of U.S. industrial jobs. According to Scott of the Economic Policy Institute, “Over the past two decades, currency manipulation by about 20 countries, led by China, has inflated U.S. trade deficits, which [in combination with the lingering effects of the Great Recession] is largely responsible for the loss of more than five million U.S....jobs.”
How is the overall impact of NAFTA measured, since trade and investment trends are influenced by numerous other economic variables, such as economic growth, inflation, and currency fluctuations and manipulation?