Ted Cruz on Free Trade Republican Texas Senator

Supports tariffs; opposes bailouts to those hurt by them

Ted Cruz (R): No. Also opposed federal aid given to TX farmers hurt by trade retaliation.

Beto O'Rourke (D): No. They "will devastate our state, businesses, & economy."

I always opposed TPP, but I supported TPA

CRUZ: Actually that's incorrect. There are two different agreements. There's TPA and TPP. I opposed TPP and have always opposed TPP, which is what you asked about. Free trade, when we open up foreign markets, helps Americans. But we're getting killed in international trade right now.We're driving jobs overseas.

FACTCHECK: No one explained the acronyms, so we looked them up. According to Mother Jones magazine:

TPP = Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade treaty between the US and a bunch of other countries around the Pacific Rim. It's been under negotiation for years.

TPA = Trade Promotion Authority, aka "fast track." This comes before the TPP vote, and guarantees that the treaty text will be submitted to Congress for an up-or-down vote with no amendments allowed. Without it, the treaty is dead, since other countries won't allow the US to unilaterally makes changes.

Import taxes are paid by consumers, not by China

Donald TRUMP: The 45% tariff is a threat. It will be a tax if they don't behave. China dumps everything that they have over here. We can't get into China. The 45% is a threat that if they don't behave, we will tax you.

CRUZ: It's not China that pays the tax. It's you, the working men and women. So ask yourself at home: How is this helping you? If your wages have been stagnant for 20 years; if you can't pay the bills, how does it help you to have a president come and say, "I'm going to put a 45% tax on diapers, on automobiles, on clothing." That hurts you. It's why we've got to get beyond rhetoric of "China bad," and actually get to "how do you solve the problem?" Because this solution would hurt jobs and hurt hard-working taxpayers in America.

End the Export-Import Bank

The Export-Import bank is corporate welfare

Defended Chinese company on intellectual property theft

Dewhurst lying about defending Chinese intellectual property

Moderators asked Cruz about his legal work for a Chinese tire company in its appeal against a $26 million judgment that it had stolen intellectual property from an American tire company. Cruz said he was one of several attorneys on the case and that he had represented American companies against Chinese firms as well.

Voted YES to kill reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank.

Heritage Action summary of vote# S206: The Senate voted to table (kill) an amendment by Sen. Kirk to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Sen. Kirk recommends voting NO. Heritage Foundation recommends voting YES because the "Ex-Im Bank is little more than a $140 billion slush fund for corporate welfare."

OnTheIssues explanation: Voting NO would allow a vote on reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank. Voting YES would kill the bill for reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank.

Congressional Summary from previous Ex-Im bill S.824; the Ex-Im Bank shall:
• Provide technical assistance to small businesses on how to apply for financial assistance;
• Establish programs under which private financial institutions may share risk in loans & guarantees.
• The Bank may enter into up to $25 billion worth of contracts of reinsurance or co-finance.

Cato Institute reason for voting YES to kill the bill:The Ex-Im Bank's reauthorization buffs contend that Ex-Im fills a void left by private sector lenders unwilling to provide financing for certain transactions. Ex-Im's critics [say that] by effectively superseding risk-based decision-making with the choices of a handful of bureaucrats pursuing political objectives, Ex-Im risks taxpayer dollars. It turns out that for nearly every Ex-Im financing authorization that might advance the fortunes of a single US company, there is at least one US industry whose firms are put at a competitive disadvantage. These are the unseen consequences of Ex-Im's mission.