The retiring President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Richard Fisher, once famously noted,

[P]rotectionism is the crack cocaine of economics. It provides a temporary high but is instantly addictive and leads to certain economic death.

Indeed, here comes the latest example of that: Public Citizen’s bogus job loss claims against the U.S.–Korea Free Trade Agreement, better known as the KORUS FTA. According to Public Citizen, the “post-Korea FTA decline in U.S. exports to South Korea and a new flood of imports from Korea have resulted in a major surge in the U.S. trade deficit with Korea that equates to nearly 85,000 lost American jobs.”

This is not supported by fact or theory. Consider the following evidence presented in a recent Forbes article:

  • According to the U.S. Census Bureau, exports to South Korea declined from 2012 to 2013, but went up in 2014 to a higher level than in 2012. They had a value of $42.3 billion in 2012 and $44.5 billion in 2014.
  • A month ago, Public Citizen said the KORUS FTA had put 70,000 Americans out of work. Now they’re saying it’s 85,000. So, they would have you believe that 15,000 people have lost their jobs in the last month as a direct result of the KORUS FTA.
  • The U.S. Labor Department has a program called Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) that provides benefits to unemployed workers who can demonstrate that foreign trade cost them their jobs. Since the KORUS FTA took effect in 2012, 236,479 people have been certified as eligible for TAA. Only 6,575 of them blamed the KORUS FTA for their unemployment: 0.03 percent of the total.

The truth is that the trade pact between the U.S. and South Korea has been a win for both countries. Since it went into effect in March 2012, the KORUS FTA has been unlocking enhanced opportunities for more Americans and supporting well-paying jobs. Mike Froman, President Obama’s trade czar, pointed this out:

We now sell over a billion dollars’ worth of U.S.-made autos in Korea, an increase of 140% over the last 3 years… The numbers are encouraging, but this story is about more than numbers. Because we have made trade with Korea easier, farmers and ranchers are exporting “Grown-in-America” cherries, beef, cheese, and other ag products at record levels; labs and studios are providing Koreans with more “Created-in-America” medicines, apps, and Internet services; and businesses of all shapes and sizes are better able to sell “Made-in-America” goods in Korea.

Ambassador Froman tends to talk only about exports, but the almost $70 billion in imports from South Korea in 2014 represent real gains for the U.S. economy as well, providing cheaper consumer goods and high-quality intermediate goods that make our manufacturers more productive and profitable.

The KORUS FTA has increased economic linkages between the United States and South Korea, one of Asia’s fastest growing and most dynamic economies. Both countries across the Pacific are benefiting significantly from the trade and investment ties.

Oddly, South Korea has so far been excluded from negotiations for the new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That’s a mistake. South Korea is “a natural candidate for negotiations for the TPP,” and one can only hope that it will be brought into the negotiating process at the earliest possible time. Our producers and consumers have gained a lot from the KORUS FTA, but there are more benefits to come.