Cruz: I’ve ‘Always Opposed TPP,’ ‘We’re Getting Killed In International Trade Right Now’

Republican presidential candidate Texas Senator Ted Cruz said that he has “always opposed TPP” and “we’re getting killed in international trade right now” during Thursday’s Republican presidential debate on CNN.

Cruz was asked, “[Y]ou were a supporter of the Pacific trade deal, but after taking some heat from conservatives, you changed your position. Why should these voters, who don’t like these trade deals, trust that you will fight for them, all the time, and not just in election years?”

He responded, “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. And when it comes to trade, look, free trade, when we open up foreign markets, helps Americans. But we’re getting killed in international trade right now, and we’re getting killed, because we have an administration that doesn’t look out for American workers, and jobs are going overseas. We’re driving jobs overseas. And the people who are losing out, are manufacturing jobs, or the steel industry, or the auto industry. But I’ll tell you who else is going to be losing out, which is the service industry. This Obama administration is negotiating the Trade in Services Agreement, which is another treaty to allow services to come in and take jobs from Americans as well. And you’ve got to understand, trade and immigration are interwoven, and they’re hurting the working men and women of this country. So the question is, what’s the solution? It’s easy to talk about the problems. But do you have a solution to fix it? I think the solution is several things. Number one, we need to negotiate trade deals protecting American workers first, not the corporate boardroom. Number two, we need to lift the regulations on American businesses here, so we see jobs coming back. And number three, we need a tax plan like the tax plan I’ve introduced, that will not tax exports, and that will tax imports, and that will bring millions of high-paying jobs back to America.”

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