At Penn United Technologies in Cabot, Dave Frengel spent 11 years working as director of government affairs, primarily dealing with international trade — specifically trying to help make free-trade deals fair-trade deals.

Frengel, recently retired, has been among the voices pushing Washington to make trade deals tougher on foreign competitors, to create a level playing field.

Hearing that Washington is working on a new free-trade agreement causes most people’s eyes to glaze over. Trade deals are seen as complex arrangements that have little impact on our daily lives. But if those lives are touched by manufacturing, and many in Western Pennsylvania are, then trade deals matter.

History suggests that these fast-track trade deals deserve more public attention and more tough questions for proponents.

Over the years, Frengel has warned about the harm caused by weaker laws related to worker safety and the environment giving some foreign competitors an unfair cost advantage. He’s also stressed the economic harm caused to the U.S. by currency manipulation, mostly by China. Its currency intervention keeps its exports cheaper and raises the cost of products made in other countries.

The harm caused by bad trade deals is real. Frengel notes that Penn United employs about 600 people, but with fair-trade deals the company might be employing as many as 1,200 workers.

So unfair trade is not a theoretical issue, it has real consequences, especially in the manufacturing sector.

Frengel’s most recent effort has been to press Washington to learn from what many fair-trade advocates say were the mistakes in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He is among those pushing Washington to impose real costs on manufacturers in countries where worker safety or environmental regulations are lax.

The April 19 edition of the New York Times featured an editorial titled “This time, get global trade right.” The Times noted that past trade deals hurt the United States and contributed to the loss of nearly five million manufacturing jobs over the past two decades. On the plus side, many goods bought by American consumers are cheaper than they were a decade or two ago. But those cost savings have come at the cost of jobs here. And it’s not because foreign companies are better managed or that the employees overseas work harder. It’s mostly due to modest or nonexistent protections for workers and the environment — plus low wages.

The Times editorial notes that the current negotiations on two big trade deals — one with Europe and one with 11 Asian/Pacific Rim countries — are taking place in secret, as do most trade deals. But the Times adds that while the public is being shut out, big business is at the table.

Congressional opposition to the fast-track treatment of these trade deals is growing and last year 200 House members, from both parties, came out against giving Obama fast-track authority, which leaves Congress with only an up-or-down vote, and no ability to modify the agreements.

There is growing suspicion on Main Street and in Congress that these fast-track trade deals are good for big business but not average citizens. Learning that big business is involved in the secret negotiations with administration officials only fuels suspicions.

It’s also interesting to see President Obama’s conversion on fast-track trade deals. As a candidate in 2008, he was critical of NAFTA, saying it harmed workers. Now, as president, he supports two trade deals that critics call “NAFTA on steroids.” Obama boasted that the 2011 NAFTA-like trade deal with South Korea would support “70,000 American jobs from exports alone.” Yet in the first two years of that deal, U.S. exports to South Korea have fallen 11 percent and the U.S. trade deficit has expanded by 47 percent.

Selling these trade pacts is partly a matter of trust, but Obama and the big business backers of the NAFTA-like deals both lack credibility.

Americans should pay attention to what is in these trade deals — and Congress should not let the Obama administration and big business create another trade agreement that harms American workers.