General Motors has decided to eliminate engineering jobs here and outsource them to Brazil and South Korea, another ominous sign for American workers.

Several weeks ago, the ailing automaker announced that it will cut 6,250 U.S. jobs per year between now and 2008 in an effort to regain profitability.

GM Brazil, according to a story appearing in the Washington Times, will add more than 200 engineers to the 660 it now employs. It hired 150 engineers last year.

The reason is simple: Overseas engineers will work for less. The average Brazilian engineers earns about $25,000 per year. A starting engineer at GM earns more than twice as much, which can zoom to $92,000 for a project manager.

In an even more ominous sign, Brazil will become one of five divisions in charge of designing automobiles. When Brazil is the lead designer on a new model, engineers from the U.S. will participate only in a support role.

In the past, American workers have been told by free-trade politicians that manufacturing work might move to foreign shores, but that the U.S. would dominate high-tech specialties. Education and specialization would be the key to a secure job in the job market of the future.

For years, GM and other companies have moved factories overseas. Now we are seeing U.S. computer companies exporting not only the means of manufacturing, but also the skilled jobs of people who write software, read medical X-rays, write legal contracts and design automobiles.

The shift is clearly reflected in our massive trade imbalances with countries like China. In some cases, we now export raw materials to those countries, that are returned to us as finished products.

With their newfound wealth, the Chinese have been loaning us money to pay our staggering federal budget deficit, and, last week, they made a pitch to buy a U.S. oil company.

While we spend $5 billion per month in Iraq, China is investing its newfound wealth in becoming wealthier.

We do not see how this can be a sustainable course for the U.S.