An absurd conspiracy

When addressing the Northern Marianas, our detractors often portray a nefarious, labor-exploiting conspiracy. Poor Chinese garment factory workers, they say, are exported by the “Red Chinese Communist” government, to work in filthy, “sweatshop” factories owned by unscrupulous foreign capitalists, on “American soil” governed by a “corrupt” indigenous population bought off by those greedy garment factory owners.

U.S. House Republicans, the conspiracy continues, have also been bought off by CNMI garment factory owners (political contributions) and their highly paid lobbying firms. All of this, of course, comes at the expense of both the cheated Asian and American worker (who, presumably, loses his manufacturing job to the exploited foreign worker and pays higher taxes due to the Headnote 3(a) tariff exemption.)

This, you might say, is the Interior Department’s simplistic view of things. The truth, however, is an entirely different matter altogether.

In truth, what we basically have here is this: A growing and modernizing nation (China) with a huge population and a surplus of labor agrees to export workers to improve the livelihood of its people. A new, self-governing political entity (the CNMI) with a highly limited labor force decides to pursue economic self-sufficiency by allowing the importation of much needed foreign labor. What we have here is a win-win situation in which both parties benefit in an even trade.

Every party to this arrangement benefits, including mainland Americans and their federal government.

The CNMI government–and its indigenous people–benefit from the tax revenues, local employment, charitable contributions and enormous multiplier effects of the garment industry, particularly now, at a time when the tourism industry is faltering.

The businessmen, of course, make a profit and benefit their shareholders. They may also derive a tremendous sense of satisfaction, knowing that they have produced a quality product at a reasonable price, while benefiting many others in the process. Note that CNMI garment commerce benefits not only local factory owners but large American clothing retailers as well, who, in turn, pay federal taxes and provide American jobs.

The foreign worker earns as much as ten times what she could command in wages back in her own home country. She gains the experience of foreign living, meets new people, becomes culturally enriched, learns more English, and saves anywhere from ten to twenty thousand dollars before she is finally repatriated. Meanwhile, virtually all of her medical, food and living expenses are shouldered by her employer.

The American clothing consumer enjoys a quality product at a far more affordable price than if the product were manufactured with higher labor costs at home.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy, the largest and strongest one in the world, continues its unabated pace of unprecedented peacetime prosperity. The federal government collects millions in Chinese Social Security tax payments, for which the temporary CNMI garment factory worker will never collect in future retirement benefits. OSHA collects millions in fines and continues to provide jobs for American bureaucrats, and U.S. taxpayers are relieved of the burden of subsidizing the Marianas as yet another welfare state.

Now why in the world would our detractors want to sully all of these benefits?