A new focus for trade talks

Finally, we need to deal with foreign government subsidies to manufacturers. These can take the form of a currency that is kept at an artificially low level, such as the Chinese yuan, to make imported goods cheap in our market, or programs that give enormous sums to foreign companies to build factories.

The key goal of the Manufacturing Round must be to make the cost of manufacturing in the U.S. as closely comparable to the costs of manufacturing abroad as we can, so that our manufacturers stay here and goods made abroad will not have artificial advantages in our market.

People often raise the issue of wages, suggesting that because wages are lower in China, no one can afford to manufacture here. That is simply untrue. The value of wages in most manufactured products, such as electronics or steel, is less than 10 percent. That amount can easily be dealt with both by U.S. efficiency and - at least regarding sales in the U.S. - by the shipping costs incurred in bringing goods here.

Finally, naysayers will ask why our trading partners would agree to a round that would help U.S. manufacturing. There are three reasons:

* The negotiating points should be built up not just around U.S. concerns but must also cover key issues for other developed countries that are seeing their manufacturing bases disappearing. We would have allies in this round.

* Some of the advantages given to developing countries, such as non-tariff barriers, are simply unfair, and well-meaning leaders in any country should recognize that.

* The world ought to realize by now that the decline of the U.S. economy will ultimately be a problem for everyone. When we sneeze, the whole world gets a cold.

Let's give it a try and go back to the negotiating table to bring back some of the 5.5 million manufacturing jobs we have lost since 1979.

Gilbert B. Kaplan, a partner at a Washington law firm, is a former acting assistant and deputy assistant secretary of commerce. His e-mail is gkaplan@

kslaw.com.