Trade
Donald Trump
US-China
- Officially declare China as a currency manipulator (DTW)
- "Economists estimate the Chinese yuan is undervalued by anywhere from 15% to 40%" (DTW)
- Force China to uphold IP laws. (DTW)
- End China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards (DTW)
- Lower corporate tax rate (to 15%, listed in Tax section) (DTW)
- Bolstering U.S. military presence in East and South China Seas (DTW)
- "But the worst of China's sins...is the wanton manipulation of China's currency, robbing Americans of billions of dollars of capital and millions of jobs." (The International Economy)
- "Economists estimate that the yuan is undervalued anywhere from 15 percent to 40 percent. Through manipulation of the yuan, the Chinese government has been able to tip the trade balance in their direction by imposing a de facto tariff on all imported goods." (The International Economy)
- "On day one of a Trump administration, the U.S. Treasury Department will designate China a currency manipulator." (The International Economy)
"Why are we striking trade agreements with countries we already have agreements with? Why is there no effort to make sure we have fair trade instead of ‘free’ trade that isn’t free to Americans?" (BB)
Bernie Sanders
- "Middle class in this country is collapsing. We have 27 million people living in poverty. We have massive wealth and income inequality. Our trade policies have cost us millions of decent jobs." (DD1)
- "...for forty years, the great middle class of this country has been disappearing. And in my view, what we need to create millions of jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure; raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour; [enact] pay equity for women workers; [rethink] our disastrous trade policies, which have cost us millions of jobs; and make every public college and university in this country tuition-free." (DD1)
- "I voted against NAFTA, CAFTA, PNTR with China. I think they have been a disaster for the American worker. A lot of corporations that shut down here move abroad. Working people understand that after NAFTA, CAFTA, PNTR with China we have lost millions of decent paying jobs. Since 2001, 60,000 factories in America have been shut down. We're in a race to the bottom, where our wages are going down. Is all of that attributable to trade? No. Is a lot of it? Yes. TPP was written by corporate America and the pharmaceutical industry and Wall Street. That's what this trade agreement is about. I do not want American workers to competing against people in Vietnam who make 56 cents an hour for a minimum wage." (OTIBST)
- "In the House and Senate, I voted against all of these terrible trade agreements, NAFTA, CAFTA, permanent normal trades relations with China. Republicans and Democrats, they say, "oh, we'll create all these jobs by having a trade agreement with China." Well, the answer is, they were wrong, wrong, wrong. Over the years, we have lost millions of decent paying jobs. These trade agreements have forced wages down in America so the average worker in America today is working longer hours for lower wages." (OTIBST)
Reverse trade policies like NAFTA, CAFTA, and PNTR that have driven down wages and caused the loss of millions of jobs. (BSWII)
Trade policy would focus on restoring jobs for Americans. Stop exports of oil abroad to focus on clean energy solutions at home. Against all Free-Trade agreements on the grounds that it hurts the American people and represents only the interests of corporate America.
Chris Christie
Christie | Trade | (section page)
Free Trade Agreements
Christie supports new free-trade agreements like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), at least in theory. The main caveat is that he doesn’t trust President Obama to deliver a good deal:
“I’m generally in favor of trade and free trade. Of course the devil is always in the details. I’m not a huge truster in this president’s ability to negotiate on behalf of American interests. I’m someone who believes in trade promotion authority. But I don’t know that I would give this president trade promotion authority. This is the same guy who’s negotiating such a great deal that Iran is going to be a nuclear power. And so trade deals I think are important to expand American markets to bring our products to other people and theirs to us and to allow America competition to be able to continue to be what drives us to be the number one economy in the world.” (Newsweek)
North American Trade
Last September, Christie traveled to Mexico to help boost its trade with New Jersey. He followed up with a trip to Canada in December. He explained his reasoning for the two trips:
“When we decided to do foreign travel in 2014, I intentionally selected Mexico and Canada…we need to make these neighbors of ours a first thought, not an afterthought, and the fact is that the best way to do that is to meet people, to let them know by your physical presence and your interest in what’s going on in their countries that they’re important partners of ours.… I believe we need to spend much more time on our own hemisphere and on our continent, but also because I wanted to acknowledge and have the opportunity to expand our business and trade relationships with Canada and Mexico.” (Newsweek)
Energy Cooperation and NAFTA
Christie emphasizes the importance of energy cooperation and trade among North American countries. On that score, he thinks the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) needs revision:
“I do think that we need to take another look at NAFTA.…It’s been 20 years now since NAFTA was put into effect and what’s the next chapter going to look like? We know what’s happened over the last 20 years with NAFTA, but I think we need to be talking to our neighbors about what the next generation of NAFTA will look like.” (Newsweek)
