Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/International trade
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The overview of the issue below was current as of the 2016 election.
Despite their differences on international trade as described below, the 2016 presidential candidates found agreement on one issue: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump opposed the trade deal because they believed it would cause Americans to lose jobs.
See what Donald Trump and the 2016 Republican Party Platform said about international trade below.
| CANDIDATE SUMMARY | |
Trump on international trade
- During a Meet the Press interview on July 24, 2016, Trump discussed trade, saying that he would “impose tariffs — in the range of 15 percent to 35 percent — on companies like Indiana-based Carrier, which is moving its operations to Mexico,” according to The Hill. Trump said, “If they're going to fire all their people, move their plant to Mexico, build air conditioners, and think they're going to sell those air conditioners to the United States, there's going to be a tax.” Todd then said that “the import-tariff plan wouldn't pass muster at the WTO.” Trump replied, “Then we're going to renegotiate or we're going to pull out. These trade deals are a disaster. You know, the World Trade Organization is a disaster.”[2]
- In a speech delivered on June 28, 2016, Donald Trump explained how he would change America’s “failed trade policy” by rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, appointing the best trade negotiators, renegotiating and potentially withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and labeling China a currency manipulator. In his prepared speech, titled “Declaring American Economic Independence,” Trump warned his supporters that “Hillary Clinton, and her campaign of fear, will try to spread the lie that these actions will start a trade war. She has it completely backwards. Hillary Clinton unleashed a trade war against the American worker when she supported one terrible trade deal after another – from NAFTA to China to South Korea. A Trump Administration will end that war by getting a fair deal for the American people. The era of economic surrender will finally be over. A new era of prosperity will finally begin. America will be independent once more.”[3]
- Donald Trump said on February 18, 2016, that he would send cease and desist letters to China, Mexico and other U.S. trade partners for “ripping us off.” He added, “And when I say cease-and-desist orders, maybe it'd be equivalent. Maybe I'll do it with my mouth."[4]
- Trump advocated for fair trade and called NAFTA “a disaster” on September 27, 2015. “We will either renegotiate it or we will break it because you know every agreement has an end,” said Trump.[5][6]
- In a statement released to The Daily Caller in May 2015, Trump criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying, "Yet again, the politicians are allowing our president to reinforce the lack of respect countries like China and Japan now have for the United States. They will devalue their currency, exploit our trade agreements, continue to destroy our economy and put Americans out of work. Politicians are all talk and no action. Instead of fast tracking TPP, Congress should pass legislation that holds China and Japan accountable for currency manipulation. This would send a message to the world that there are consequences for cheating the United States."[7]
- Trump released a radio ad in May 2015 recommending Congress reject trade promotion authority. Trump said, "I learned a long time ago, a bad deal is far worse than no deal at all. And the Obama Trans-Pacific Partnership and fast track are a bad, bad deal for American businesses, for workers, for taxpayers. It’s a huge set of hand outs for a few insiders that don’t even care about our great, great America. Congress has to stand up and defeat this raw power grab. With the dismal Obama track record, why should a Republican Congress give him more power and gut the Constitution to do it? It’s just crazy. Tell your congressmen and senators, vote no on fast track."[7]
- On April 22, 2015, Trump tweeted, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an attack on America's business. It does not stop Japan's currency manipulation. This is a bad deal."[8]
- At the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011, Trump described himself as "a fair trade believer" who "loves open markets."[9]
Trans-Pacific Partnership
- After Hillary Clinton announced Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her vice president, Trump tweeted the following on July 23, 2016: "Tim Kaine has been praising the Trans Pacific Partnership and has been pushing hard to get it approved. Job killer!" Washington Examiner reported that "Kaine assured Clinton before being picked for the VP spot that he opposes the TPP in its current form."[10]
- On June 30, 2016, Trump said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) "will make NAFTA, in my opinion, look like a baby. ... Trans-Pacific Partnership — it's over 5,000 pages long — every country that's in that partnership has studied every word, every comma, every sentence, every paragraph; our guys probably haven't even read it. This is the way we do business." Trump then criticized Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton for their involvement in past free trade deals, according to The Hill. Trump said, "Hillary Clinton understood and backed, and Bill Clinton certainly as the president, initiatives — they are a disaster, and now they want to go into TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership. ... We have to get smart, folks."[11]
- On June 28, 2016, Trump said, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is another disaster done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country — just a continuing rape of our country. It’s a harsh word, but it’s true.”[12]
- In a speech titled "Declaring American Economic Independence," delivered on June 28, 2016, Trump criticized the TPP and Clinton for changing her stance on the trade deal. Trump said, "The TPP would be the death blow for American manufacturing. It would give up all of our economic leverage to an international commission that would put the interests of foreign countries above our own. It would further open our markets to aggressive currency cheaters. It would make it easier for our trading competitors to ship cheap subsidized goods into U.S. markets - while allowing foreign countries to continue putting barriers in front of our exports. The TPP would lower tariffs on foreign cars, while leaving in place the foreign practices that keep American cars from being sold overseas. The TPP even created a backdoor for China to supply car parts for automobiles made in Mexico. The agreement would also force American workers to compete directly against workers from Vietnam, one of the lowest wage countries on Earth. Not only will the TPP undermine our economy, but it will undermine our independence. The TPP creates a new international commission that makes decisions the American people can't veto. These commissions are great Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street funders who can spend vast amounts of money to influence the outcomes. It should be no surprise then that Hillary Clinton, according to Bloomberg, took a 'leading part in drafting the Trans-Pacific Partnership'. She praised or pushed the TPP on 45 separate occasions, and even called it the 'gold standard'. Hillary Clinton was totally for the TPP just a short while ago, but when she saw my stance, which is totally against, she was shamed into saying she would be against it too – but have no doubt, she will immediately approve it if it is put before her, guaranteed. She will do this just as she has betrayed American workers for Wall Street throughout her career. Here’s how it would go: she would make a small token change, declare the pact fixed, and ram it through. That’s why Hillary is now only saying she has problems with the TPP 'in its current form,' – ensuring that she can rush to embrace it again at her earliest opportunity. If the media doesn’t believe me, I have a challenge for you. Ask Hillary Clinton if she is willing to withdraw from the TPP her first day in office and unconditionally rule out its passage in any form. There is no way to 'fix' the TPP. We need bilateral trade deals. We do not need to enter into another massive international agreement that ties us up and binds us down."[13]
- In an op-ed from March 14, 2016, Trump explained his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP). He wrote, “The number of jobs and amount of wealth and income the United States have given way in so short a time is staggering, likely unprecedented. And the situation is about to get drastically worse if the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not stopped. One of the first casualties of the TPP will be America’s auto industry, and among the worst victims of this pact will be the people of Ohio. The TPP will send America’s remaining auto jobs to Japan. Yet, Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio have all promoted the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a mortal threat to American manufacturing. … TPP is the biggest betrayal in a long line of betrayals where politicians have sold out U.S. workers. America’s politicians — beholden to global corporate interests who profit from offshoring — have enabled jobs theft in every imaginable way. They have tolerated foreign trade cheating while enacting trade deals that encourage companies to shift production overseas.”[14]
- During the Fox Business/Wall Street Journal Republican debate on November 10, 2015, Trump said that although he is a "free trader," he does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP). Trump said, "The TPP is horrible deal. It is a deal that is going to lead to nothing but trouble. It’s a deal that was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone. It’s 5,600 pages long. So complex that nobodies [sic] read it. It’s like Obamacare; nobody ever read it. They passed it; nobody read it. And look at mess we have right now. And it will be repealed. But this is one of the worst trade deals. And I would, yes, rather not have it. With all of these countries, and all of the bad ones getting advantage and taking advantage of what the good ones would normally get, I’d rather make individual deals with individual countries. We will do much better. We lose a fortune on trade. The United States loses with everybody. We’re losing now over $500 billion in terms of imbalance with China, $75 billion a year imbalance with Japan. By the way, Mexico, $50 billion a year imbalance. So I must say, Gerard, I just think it’s a terrible deal. I love trade. I’m a free trader, 100 percent. But we need smart people making the deals, and we don’t have smart people making the deals."[15]
- When asked if there were "particular parts of the deal that you think were badly negotiated," Trump replied, "Yes. Well, the currency manipulation they don’t discuss in the agreement, which is a disaster. If you look at the way China and India and almost everybody takes advantage of the United States — China in particular, because they’re so good. It’s the number-one abuser of this country. And if you look at the way they take advantage, it’s through currency manipulation. It’s not even discussed in the almost 6,000-page agreement. It’s not even discussed. And as you understand, I mean, you understand very well from the Wall Street Journal, currency manipulation is the single great weapon people have. They don’t even discuss it in this agreement. So I say, it’s a very bad deal, should not be approved. If it is approved, it will just be more bad trade deals, more loss of jobs for our country. We are losing jobs like nobody’s ever lost jobs before. I want to bring jobs back into this country."[15]
- In a statement to Breitbart on October 5, 2015, Trump questioned congressional support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He asked, "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? Why do we not have accompanying legislation that will punish countries that manipulate their currencies to seek unfair advantage in trade arrangements? Why has the Congress not addressed prohibitive corporate tax rates and trade agreements that continue to drain dollars and jobs from America’s shores?”[16]
- On October 5, 2015, Trump criticized TPP in the following tweet:
| The 2016 Republican Party Platform on international trade | ||||||
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Donald Trump Enters 2016 Presidential Race," June 16, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Trump suggests leaving WTO over import tax proposal," July 24, 2016
- ↑ DonaldJTrump.com, "Declaring American Economic Independence," June 28, 2016
- ↑ Business Insider, "TRUMP: I'd 'send cease-and-desist letters to China and Mexico'," February 18, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Trump threatens to 'break' trade pact with Mexico, Canada," September 26, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart, "Donald Trump: American Needs 'fair trade,' not 'free trade,'" September 27, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Daily Caller, "Donald Trump To Blast Obama Trade Pact In Radio Ads: ‘A Bad, Bad Deal’," May 6, 2015
- ↑ CNN Money, "Donald Trump slams Pacific free trade deal," April 23, 2015
- ↑ Human Events, "Donald Trump at CPAC: America Will Be Respected Again," February 10, 2011
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "Trump uses TPP to smack Kaine," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Trump: TPP will make NAFTA 'look like a baby,'" accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Trump vows to cancel Asia trade deal as president — and puts NAFTA on notice," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ DonaldJTrump.com, "Declaring American Economic Independence," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ USA Today, "Donald Trump: Disappearing middle class needs better deal on trade," accessed May 17, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Time, "Transcript: Read the Full Text of the Fourth Republican Debate in Milwaukee," accessed May 2, 2016
- ↑ Breitbart, "Donald Trump declares war on Obamatrade: 'Time to send a real businessman' to White House to end this," October 5, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Republican Party, "The 2016 Republican Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
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