U.S.-China trade relations are at a critical crossroad. Abetted by multinationals, the Chinese violate international trade rules and steal American middle-class jobs. U.S. industries and communities decline as our public and private debt and trade deficit continue to soar. Combining the wealth and technology they gain from us (often illegally), the Chinese are engaged in a huge and threatening military buildup.

Now news about unsafe products from China is adding to concerns. Deadly food, dangerous chemicals in toiletry products, lead paint on toys, and critical product failures including vehicle tires are just a few recent revelations.

According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports, that agency inspects less than 2 percent of our food imports. In April 2007 alone, the FDA rejected more than 250 shipments of bad food from China, each containing more than 30 metric tons. That suggests that the uninspected portion contained more than a billion pounds of bad food that passed through to American consumers.

The system that administers our hard-won food and product-safety laws is breaking down under the overwhelming mass of imports from China, and it will be decades before China's food and product-safety system come up to standard.

To quell mounting concern, the Chinese government has shut down some culpable producers and hired lobbyists and public relations firms to convince Capitol Hill and the American public that their products are safe. Tragically, they even executed the head of their food and drug agency.

China violates with impunity its pledge to abide by World Trade Organization rules. In many cases, it actually lacks the means to comply. But because of the current and potential growth of their economy, the Chinese and their globalist allies have evolved a system of global trade anarchy and mercantilism beyond anything the world has ever seen.

However, this is not an economic conflict with China. It is a political battle between Wall Street and Main Street USA. The sad truth is that the Chinese could not continue to violate our trade and consumer protection laws without their U.S. globalist allies influencing Congress and the White House not to enforce the rules.

Multinational corporations and international bankers and financiers demand an unregulated global market that permits them to profiteer any way they can, including through their mercantilist alliances with the Chinese. These Wall Street globalists believe trade should not be regulated by governments, no matter how legitimate or democratically derived those regulations may be. They even battle against regulations requiring country-of-origin labeling.

Wall Street globalists don't like genuine rules-based free trade. They prefer a trade free-for-all, even if it destroys the environment and the American middle class. They are particularly fond of so-called "free trade" agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) because, in addition to removing tariffs, these international treaties also contain language surrendering much of our authority to enforce regulations enacted by our federal, state and local governments.

The globalists tell us the market will make everything right someday if the government keeps its hands off, but Main Street America isn't buying this line. We believe in genuine free trade based on the rule of law. We know that in a trade free-for-all, the wealthy and powerful will determine our economic future, not the market or our elected representatives. Been there, done that. We settled that issue in 1776. Letting Wall Street elites rule over us is not our idea of political and economic freedom.

Unfortunately, recent U.S. trade actions have advanced the radical globalist agenda rather than genuine free trade. The result: Investors get richer while Americans work more for less, consume tainted products, and go deeper in debt.

The U.S. has become deeply entangled in unhealthy trade with China. While we do not want China to fail, constructive engagement with China does not require us to compromise our liberty, strength and security. Enforcing U.S. trade laws will gradually scale back the growth of our trade with China to a more healthy and manageable level.

To begin, federal lawmakers should enact legislation to ensure that food and product-safety regulations are effectively enforced, including clear and accurate country-of-origin labeling. Congress also must pass legislation to effectively address currency manipulation, the most-damaging, illegal Chinese trade practice, as well as legislation to apply our trade laws to Communist nations like China the same as they now apply to free-market nations.

If laws like these are not enacted, if more NAFTA-style trade agreements like those pending with Peru and Panama are passed, or if Congress enacts new "Fast Track" trade legislation to pave the way for more bad trade deals, we will know the government has sold out Main Street once again for campaign contributions from the China-Wall Street mercantilist alliance.

Remember that the next time you vote.

Dave Frengel is director of government affairs for Penn United Technology, Inc., in Cabot, and represents Penn United on the board of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (www.prosperousamerica.org), a trade- reform organization.