Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump spoke in Monessen, Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon, differentiating his trade policy of an independent America from presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s record on trade and globalization.
“Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization — moving our jobs, our wealth, and our factories to Mexico and overseas,” Trump declared. “Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache.”
“When subsidized foreign steel is dumped into our markets, threatening our factories, the politicians do nothing,” he added, speaking about “thirty miles from Steal City.”
“Today, we import nearly $800 billion more in goods than we export,” he challenged.
“This is not some natural disaster. It is politician-made disaster,” Trump stressed. “It is the consequence of a leadership class that worships globalism over Americanism.”
Trump blamed Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton on supporting and pushing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the currently pending Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal in Congress, which Clinton reportedly helped draft.
“The people who rigged the system for their benefit will do anything – and say anything – to keep things exactly as they are,” Trump stated. “The people who rigged the system are supporting Hillary Clinton because they know as long as she is in charge nothing will ever change.”
The inner cities will remain poor. The factories will remain closed. The borders will remain open. The special interests will remain firmly in control. Hillary Clinton and her friends in global finance want to scare America into thinking small – and they want to scare the American people out of voting for a better future.
“My campaign has the opposite message,” Trump countered. “I want you to imagine how much better your life can be if we start believing in America again. I want you to imagine how much better our future can be if we declare independence from the elites who’ve led us to one financial and foreign policy disaster after another.”
“Now it’s time for the American people to take back their future,” Trump added. “That’s the choice we face. We can either give in to Hillary Clinton’s campaign of fear, or we can choose to Believe In America.”
He outlined seven steps that a Trump administration would take on trade:
One: I am going to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified.
Two: I’m going to appoint the toughest and smartest trade negotiators to fight on behalf of American workers.
Three: I’m going to direct the Secretary of Commerce to identify every violation of trade agreements a foreign country is currently using to harm our workers. I will then direct all appropriate agencies to use every tool under American and international law to end these abuses.
Four: I’m going tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers. And I don’t mean just a little bit better, I mean a lot better. If they do not agree to a renegotiation, then I will submit notice under Article 2205 of the NAFTA agreement that America intends to withdraw from the deal.
Five: I am going to instruct my Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator. Any country that devalues their currency in order to take advantage of the United States will be met with sharply
Six: I am going to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the WTO. China’s unfair subsidy behavior is prohibited by the terms of its entrance to the WTO, and I intend to enforce those rules.
Seven: If China does not stop its illegal activities, including its theft of American trade secrets, I will use every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes, including the application of tariffs consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
“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,” Trump stated as he began concluding his speech. “America will be independent once more.”
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