WATCH at 1 p.m.: Debunking Myths on Trade and Jobs

Derek Scissors / October 04, 2012

Trade and job creation came up in the presidential debate last night. A longstanding argument for blocking trade is that imports hurt jobs. This argument is wrong, and we can prove it.

A paper published by The Heritage Foundation documents that the process of importing—offloading from ships and planes, transporting to warehouses, selling off retail shelves, and so on—supports jobs. In particular, imports of Chinese—yes, Chinese—clothes and toys support more than half a million American jobs.

Congress and the Administration should make trade policy with the understanding that imports help the economy. We’ll be talking about how important this is at a Heritage event at 1:00 p.m. ET today. Please join us either in person or watch live online here.