The Chicago Tribune: on Free Trade


Donald Trump: FactCheck: yes, Ford plant in Mexico, but no U.S. job cuts

Trump said, "Ford is leaving; their small-car division leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio." Trump's statement about Ford is partly true and partly false.

Ford is moving production of the Ford Focus and Ford C-Max from its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to Mexico in 2018. Ford said in April it plans to invest $1.6 billion to build a new plant in Mexico and create 2,800 jobs to build small cars there. However, Ford also plans to replace the products it makes in Wayne with two new vehicles and has repeatedly said no jobs will be lost. Ford's CEO said that "zero" jobs will be lost in the US and said "it is really unfortunate when politics get in the way of the facts."

Trumps' comments also prompted tweets from both Ford and the UAW countering Trump's claims. The automaker also made a commitment in November to invest $9 billion in U.S. plants and creates or retains more than 8,500 jobs as part of a new four-year contract with the UAW.

Source: Chicago Tribune Fact-check on First 2016 Presidential Debate Sep 27, 2016

Russell Feingold: Protect jobs from being shipped abroad via free trade

Feingold says his Republican opponent supports free-trade agreements that have shipped jobs from Wisconsin to other countries. He says he is the candidate who will fight to protect Wisconsin jobs. Johnson touts his experience at his private company, a plastics manufacturer with about 100 employees. He says he's the one with a proven record of creating jobs.
Source: Chicago Tribune coverage of 2010 Wisc. Senate debate Oct 7, 2010

  • The above quotations are from Media coverage of IL political races in The Chicago Tribune.
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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: Mar 14, 2026