Content area
Full Text
The view from a midwestern county that relies on free trade, but loves Donald Trump
FOR too long American workers have been ignored, President Donald Trump declared on February 13th, as he promised to "tweak" trade relations with Canada and to transform an "extremely unfair" relationship with Mexico. Flanked by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, Mr Trump made plain that he stands by a campaign pledge to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a 23-year-old pact underpinning trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Demonising NAFTA helped Mr Trump to the presidency. But in reality millions of American jobs are supported by that pact. One of them belongs to Chris Gambrel, who builds vast diesel engines in Seymour, Indiana. It would be odd to think of Mr Gambrel, a skilled and brawny employee of Cummins, an engine-maker, as ignored or "forgotten". He is proud of the "world-class" engines that he produces: 95-litre behemoths powerful enough to pull a cargo train. Three-quarters of them are exported to foreign customers for up to $1m apiece.
Free-trade rules, notably those provided by NAFTA, helped persuade Mr Gambrel's bosses to build the giant engines in Seymour, rather than at a Cummins plant in India which almost won the work. America offered lower shipping costs and less red tape when exporting the engines, and--vitally--lower and fewer customs duties when components are imported from cost-effective suppliers around the world. Add on quick access to American engineers, and the Midwest was...