Free trade is blamed again and again for Ohio's economic woes. Statistics tell a different story.

Ohio is the only state in the country whose exports have increased every year since 1998, and it's seventh in the country for exports overall. According to new numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration, Ohio's exports grew by nearly 7 percent in 2008 over the previous year, to $45.5 billion. The state's biggest manufactured exports are automotive and airplane parts, machinery, chemicals, electronics and computers.

About 11,400 Ohio companies sell their products internationally, and nearly 300,000 jobs in this state depend upon exports. Only California and Texas have more jobs linked to manufacturing exports.

Canada buys 46 percent of Ohio's exported goods, followed by Mexico, at 7 percent. The companies involved are likely grateful for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated tariffs between the trading partners.

But plenty of politicians during the 2008 election made NAFTA their target in speeches throughout the state. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown won his seat from Mike DeWine in 2006 in part by stirring up populist misconceptions about free trade.

The anti-NAFTA camp often cites the 200,000-plus manufacturing jobs Ohio has lost since 2000, implying that all were casualties of trade pacts.

But even with job losses, Ohio's manufacturing industry still is significant, with 728,700 workers in December 2008.

In 1995, General Motors and Ford were the biggest manufacturing employers in Ohio, with 63,200 GM employees and 24,000 at Ford. As of last year, GM employed 14,650 Ohioans and Ford had 11,200 workers. No one who has read the news about automaker troubles can blame free trade for why those companies aren't employing as many Ohioans today.

Some manufacturing jobs are simply obsolete. Productivity has risen dramatically in the U.S. Compared with 1992, the American worker in 2006 could produce 93 percent more goods per hour of labor -- productivity increases that no Western country other than Sweden has been able to match. Much of the increase in output is because of technology. Companies are churning out products with significantly fewer workers.

The number of U.S. manufacturing jobs peaked in 1979. NAFTA didn't go into effect until 1994.

Politicians who beat up NAFTA and similar treaties are implying that America can't compete, and that's not the case. Some Ohio manufacturers have found their niche, doing precision manufacturing that few, if any, other companies in the world can do. Working smarter is the American way.

Even President Barack Obama, who said during the campaign that he wants to negotiate an "opt-out" clause into NAFTA, has backed off. He wisely warned against "buy-American" provisions in the recently passed stimulus bill.

This is not the time to enact protectionist policies that anger international trading partners, who, in turn, would retaliate against American exporters, including those in Ohio.