Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) talked about the need for better trade deals, and smarter negotiators, on Thursday’s edition of Breitbart News Daily with Breitbart News executive chairman and host Stephen K. Bannon.
Sessions took the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) documents in New Zealand, one of the most remote countries in the world, on the Friday before the usual weekend news slowdown as evidence that the political elite is not eager to discuss the details of its trade deals with the citizens who are losing their sovereignty, and perhaps their livelihoods.
He warned TPP was likely to play a starring role in the upcoming lame-duck Congress, when the vision of the American people will be most fully obscured, and their voices most dimly heard.
“They want as little talk about it as possible, because the previous agreements that have been signed have not produced anything like they promised,” he said. “For example, the last big one was South Korea, our ally and friend. I supported that, big vote for the Korean trade deal. They promised our exports to South Korea would go up $10 billion a year. They’ve virtually gone up none, and their imports to us have increased by 12, and the trade deficit between our countries has increased 260 percent from its already high level. No wonder people are questioning how smart these guys are, that are negotiating these treaties.”
Sessions stressed that he was not against trade, but wanted people to understand that “a trading agreement is nothing more than a contract… and we should have a contract with individual nations, and if they don’t fulfill their requirements, then we cancel the contract.”
“A contract should not exist when it’s not of benefit to both parties,” he declared. “And I just believe it’s time for us to be far more realistic about trading. We have to understand that many of our trading partners are relentlessly mercantilist. They seek to expand their exports to us, expanding their unemployment to us, and block our exports to them.”
“It’s just the way it’s been,” Sessions sighed. “These are tough competitors, and they’ve been successful for decades.”
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00AM to 9:00AM EST.
Listen to the full interview with Senator Jeff Sessions below: