OnTheIssues Fact Checking: on Free Trade

Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, has opposed trade deals since Reagan

Yes, for as far back as we have records: in his 2015 book, in his 2011 book, and in his 2000 book. Some sample excerpts:

• "There are people who wish I wouldn't refer to China as our enemy. But they have destroyed entire industries and cost us tens of thousands of jobs."--Crippled America, p. 43-5, Nov. 2015
• "We need to bring manufacturing jobs back home--the jobs China is stealing."--Time to Get Tough, p. 37-9, Dec. 2011
• "You only have to look at our trade deficit to see that we are being taken to the cleaners by our trading partners. We need tougher negotiations [to] cut better deals with our world trading partners."--The America We Deserve, p.145, July 2000

Joe Biden: FactCheck: Yes, US has tried "Buy American" for 100 years

Yes, it's true. Some examples:

• 1933: The "Buy American Act" prefers US-made products in US government purchases.
• 1954: Pres. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10582, "Prescribing Uniform Procedures for the Buy-American Act"
• 1983: The "Buy America Act" applies to mass-transit procurements.
• 2009: Heritage Foundation (right-wing) opposed stimulus bill's "Buy American," as limiting competition increases costs.
• 2017: Jacobin Magazine (left-wing) opposed "Buy American" as anti-immigrant, and was the same in the 1930s & 1980s.
• 2019: Pres. Trump signed Executive Order 13811, "Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods," enforcing the 1933 Act plus a "Hire American" rule.
  Biden is accurate, but "Buy American" has never been "fully done" because of opposition from both the right and the left. Source: OnTheIssues Fact-check on CNN Town Hall 2020 Sep 17, 2020

  Rick Santorum: FactCheck: Several other candidates support EXIM Bank too

  Santorum said, "I'm a supporter of the EXIM bank. Everybody else in the entire field is opposed to it." Is that true? Santorum refers to the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency which fosters export financing.
  Oppose EXIM Bank:
  • Ted Cruz (R-TX), 8/2015: EXIM Bank is corporate welfare
  • Rand Paul (R-KY), 3/2012: EXIM Banks subsidizes multinationals
  • Bernie Sanders (D-VT), 6/2015: EXIM Bank is corporate welfare to multinationals
  • Donald Trump (R-NY), 8/2015, EXIM Bank is feather-bedding for politicians
  • Carly Fiorina (R-CA), 7/2014, EXIM Bank is marriage between big government & big business
  Support EXIM Bank:
  • Jeb Bush (R-FL), 9/2007: Secured $74M EXIM bank loan for exports to Nigeria
  • Hillary Clinton (D-NY), 11/2014, EXIM Bank is tool for competitive exporting
  • Martin O`Malley (D-MD), 7/2014: Reauthorize EXIM Bank
  • Lindsey Graham (R-SC), 7/2015, Voted for renewing charter of the EXIM Bank
  Conclusion: Santorum is wrong no matter which party or group you look at. Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2015 Fox Business/WSJ GOP debate Nov 11, 2015

  Ted Cruz: I always opposed TPP, but I supported TPA

  Q: You were a supporter of the Pacific trade deal, but you changed your position.

  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.

  Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2016 GOP primary debate in Miami Mar 11, 2016

  The above quotations are from Presidential Primary Fact Checking by OnTheIssues.org. Click here for definitions & background information on Free Trade. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Herman Cain on Free Trade.
  2024 Presidential contenders on Free Trade:
  	Candidates for President & Vice-President: V.P.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.(I-CA) Chase Oliver(L-GA) Dr.Jill Stein(D-MA) Former Pres.Donald Trump(R-FL) Sen.J.D.Vance(R-OH) Gov.Tim Walz(D-MN) Dr.Cornel West(I-NJ)	2024 presidential primary contenders: Pres.Joe_Biden(D-DE) N.D.Gov.Doug Burgum(R) N.J.Gov.Chris_Christie(R) Fla.Gov.Ron_DeSantis(R) S.C.Gov.Nikki_Haley(R) Ark.Gov.Asa_Hutchinson(R) Former V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) U.S.Rep.Dean_Phillips(D-MN) Vivek_Ramaswamy(R-OH) S.C.Sen.Tim_Scott(R)
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  Page last updated: Nov 03, 2024