By Frank Spotorno & Dan Murphy
Twenty-five years ago I formed an organization called Bring Our Jobs Home, after traveling the country and finding thousands of factories in the mid-west closed, with the jobs sent overseas – most to China. Not only did I want to warn Americans about the lost jobs that happen when we offshore our jobs to China, but also the national security impacts of building everything in China.
Like all Americans, I pray that the Coronavirus will not have a drastic impact on the health and well-being of all of us, and everyone across the globe. But I am worried that if the virus continues to spread, we will be unable to come up with the medical supplies and medicines we need to treat the disease.
How could the mighty USA be unable to treat its own residents during a pandemic? Because we no longer make enough face masks or generic medicines in this country. They are all made in China, and nothing is being exported in China because of the Coronavirus.
The ports are filled with boats that have not been emptied and factories have been close for more than a month now. And all face masks and medicines made in China are being used for the Chinese to treat the virus.
For three decades American companies have been exploiting human rights, paying individuals slave wages by outsourcing jobs and relocating to developing countries who ignore labor laws, environmental laws and human rights laws all for the mighty dollar and more corporate profits.
And millions of American jobs have been lost along the way, and both parties are to blame. Democrats and Republicans both supported and allowed free trade agreements that were unfair to the American worker. That is why I stood opposed to outsourcing jobs and always try to still buy “made in the USA” products.
Now we have another reason to make it in America – a potential pandemic, where most all of our medicines and medical supplies are made in China. And for the last month, Chinese factories have been closed, and any medicine or medical supplies being made in China is staying in China, to treat the Chinese people or because they can’t get their goods on ships to export to the USA.
Most penicillin is made in China, which we need to treat most infections. Insulin and other generic medicines are made in China for the same reason we outsourced 10 million jobs in 25 years… because it’s cheaper to make in China.
Over the years and decades, many have said, “Let these jobs go – they will never come home.” Well it now looks like we need to bring our pharmaceutical factories home to be prepared for the worst.
This was part of the reason I supported President Donald Trump in 2016, because he also wanted to bring our jobs home. Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade advisor, says the time is now to bring our U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain back home.
“We’ve offshored far too much of our supply chain, not just for Corona, but also for the essential medicines we need.” The bottom line, he said, is that “this administration is moving as rapidly as possible to make sure our supply chain is secure and so that the American public is safe and the U.S. economy is secure.”
Navarro said the immediate focus is to find protective gear like facemasks and to help the development of vaccines and drugs to treat the virus. “U.S. biotech companies are already working on a vaccine, bur are still months away,” he said.
I’m a critic of free trade when it is not fair, nor free for the USA. We have all our eggs in one basket, and we need to diversify now and for the future. That is why I supported Trump in 2016, and still do today.
My support for the president resulted in comments on social media from my former friends who attacked me for exercising my constitutional rights. I wonder what those same critics will say if there medicines run out and that medicine is stuck in a port in China. Let’s not wait for the next crisis. Let’s bring our jobs home now.
Frank Spotorno is a resident of Yonkers and founder of bringourjobshome.com.
