American needs to develop an industrial policy

Some outstanding ideas from Economy in Crisis on how to revitalize U.S. manufacturing:

The following suggestions should be considered as part of a new plan to recover American industry and economic health:

· Appoint an economic minister, a major cabinet post, to develop an industrial policy that would:

1. Create conditions to make manufacturing competitive and profitable through tax changes and subsidies where needed.

2. Protect our economy from foreign predatory practices.

3. Create an industrial research and development division similar to government sponsored National Institute of Health (NIH) in medicine or the Apollo project.

· Or, copy Japan's very successful system conducted by their Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) that focuses on needs and development procedures for their new and existing industries.

· Change the tax structure for select industries that are vital to strategic American interests - steel, transportation, cement and others.

· Amend or get out of our agreement with the WTO. It places our domestic trade laws in the hands of an undemocratic organization whose decisions have been consistently and unfairly adjudicated.

· Eliminate the out dated Value Added Tax (VAT) agreement. It unjustifiably subsidizes foreign exports to us, while simultaneously penalizing our exports to them.

· Amend or get out of NAFTA. It incentivizes our companies to move productive facilities out of our country.

· We must analyze every international trade deal by considering if it benefits America; currently most deals do not.

· Use tariffs selectively to prevent the loss of strategic and endangered industries.

· Curtail subsidies foreign owned companies receive from state governments and discourage technology transfer and outsourcing manufacturing that results in the loss of industries.

· Prevent the sale of strategic companies or institutions to foreign ownership.

· Faster depreciation on capital equipment investment - it will lessen the need to outsource manufacturing.

· Control the balance of trade deficit. This is the means through which foreign companies are able to accumulate funds to purchase our best companies.

Free trade has been a disaster. It must be replaced with intelligent trade that prevents foreign predatory practices and better serves U.S. interests.

http://www.economyincrisis.org/articles/show/2586