Before these trade deals become effective, some of our trading partners devalue their currency, immediately reducing the cost of their goods to us and everyone else, and increasing the cost of our goods to them.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle endorse trade agreements because of claims they will reduce or remove tariffs and export subsidies, yet these large regional pacts, like the TPP, are also about setting fair rules for trade. Most of the TPP pertains to non-tariff barriers and includes chapters on the environment, labor rights, and intellectual property. Currency manipulation should be included as its own chapter since it is one of the most fundamental non-tariff barriers to trade. Unfortunately for the TPP, that is not the case.
The result of currency manipulation, as it occurs after trade agreements, is that it's nearly impossible for the U.S. to get a fair shake in these deals. In fact, if you look at the data from trade deals we've already entered, the strongest correlation you can make is that the more trade deals we sign, the more jobs we lose and the higher our trade deficit grows.
Our current trade deficit sits at $505 billion. This deficit has not only spurred the loss of good paying American jobs, but it has also greatly weighed down our domestic economy by 2.5 to 5.5 percent every year for the last decade. If that drain didn't happen, we could have economic growth in this nation we haven't witnessed for decades.