When a country runs a trade deficit, it must either borrow money or sell assets to pay for its goods. After running massive trade deficits since 1975, America is increasingly being bought out by foreign interests. Foreigners now own just under 50 percent of all publicly traded Treasury securities, 25 percent of American corporate bonds, and roughly 12 percent of American corporate stock. Net foreign ownership of American assets (what they own here minus what we own there) is now $2.7 trillion – equal to roughly a fifth of annual U.S. GDP.

According to economist William Bahr of the Economic Strategy Institute, deficits since 1991 alone have created an economic hole larger than the entire Canadian economy. This is a hole that has been plugged by selling away wealth producing companies, infrastructure and government debt.

While the story of the United Arab Emirates attempting to buy several American ports in 2006 made big news, that was only an isolated example of a much larger trend that threatens to destroy our sovereignty.

While we have military to protect our national security from physical threats, America has long been remiss in doing nothing to stop economic threats. Nominally, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), is supposed to stop these foreign purchases, but it rarely does so.

In 2008, our trade deficit was greater than $800 billion. How much longer can America literally afford to run massive trade deficits? How long before vast swaths of the nation are no longer American owned? Before there aren’t any American businesses to employ individuals?

“Free trade” is sapping the strength of this nation, and must be brought to a halt if we are to properly recover. We must end or amend terrible agreements such as NAFTA and the WTO. We must work to prevent the passage of other disastrous pacts such as the KORUS FTA, and trade deals with Panama and Columbia.

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