Tim Walz on Free Trade Democrat

Tariffs will add another $4000 in costs to families

JDV: We're going to be taking in a lot of money by penalizing companies for shipping jobs overseas and penalizing countries who employ slave laborers and then ship their products back into our country and undercut the wages of American workers. It's the heart of the Donald Trump economic plan. Cut taxes for American workers and American families. Cut taxes for businesses that are hiring and building companies in the United States. But penalize companies and countries that are shipping jobs overseas.

We need fair trading partners for soybeans and corn

VANCE: Experts for 40 years said that if we shipped our manufacturing base off to China, we'd get cheaper goods. They were wrong. Donald Trump said "we're not doing it anymore; we're bringing American manufacturing back."

WALZ: We need to have fair trading partners. That's something that we believe in. I think the thing that most concerns me on this is, is Donald Trump was the guy who created the largest trade deficit in American history with China. So the rhetoric is good. Much of what the senator said right there, I'm in agreement with him on this. I watched it happen, too. I watched it in my communities and we talked about that.

VANCE: So, appreciate that. So if you notice, what Governor Walz just did is he said, "First of all, Donald Trump has to listen to the experts." And then when he acknowledged that the experts screwed up, he said, well, "Donald Trump didn't do nearly as good of a job as the statistics show that he did."

WALZ: No, that's a gross generalization.

Agricultural trade mission to Netherlands and Ireland

Gov. Walz will lead a delegation comprised of representatives from 35 businesses and organizations within Minnesota's medical technology, food and agriculture, environmental technology, and higher education sectors.

"Trade missions provide an opportunity to strengthen international economic ties and lead to direct investment in Minnesota," said Walz. "Both Netherlands and Ireland offer excellent opportunities for Minnesota companies to grow their business in Europe, as well as create new partnerships for the state."

Rash tariffs on China against interests of America's farmers

Jeff Johnson (R): No. Concerned about how Chinese tariffs will affect Minnesota farmers.

Tim Walz (D): No. Calls the tariffs "rash" & not in "the interests of America's farmers."

Opposes NAFTA and CAFTA, but stay in WTO

A: No.

Q: Do you support continued U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO)?

A: Yes.

Q: Should a nation's human rights record affect its normal trade relations (most favored nation) status with the United States?

A: Yes.

Q: Should trade agreements include provisions to address environmental concerns and to protect workers' rights?

A: Yes.

Impose tariffs against countries which manipulate currency.

• Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include as a `countervailable subsidy` requiring action under a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding the benefit conferred on merchandise imported into the US from foreign countries with fundamentally undervalued currency.
• Defines `benefit conferred` as the difference between:
  1. the amount of currency provided by a foreign country in which the subject merchandise is produced; and
  2. the amount of currency such country would have provided if the real effective exchange rate of its currency were not fundamentally undervalued.
• Determines that the currency of a foreign country is fundamentally undervalued if for an 18-month period:
  1. the government of the country engages in protracted, large-scale intervention in one or more foreign exchange markets
  2. the country`s real effective exchange rate is undervalued by at least 5%
  3. the country has experienced significant and persistent global current account surpluses; and
  4. the country`s government has foreign asset reserves exceeding the amount necessary to repay all its debt obligations.

[Explanatory note from Wikipedia.com `Exchange Rate`]:

Between 1994 and 2005, the Chinese yuan renminbi was pegged to the US dollar at RMB 8.28 to $1. Countries may gain an advantage in international trade if they manipulate the value of their currency by artificially keeping its value low. It is argued that China has succeeded in doing this over a long period of time. However, a 2005 appreciation of the Yuan by 22% was followed by a 39% increase in Chinese imports to the US. In 2010, other nations, including Japan & Brazil, attempted to devalue their currency in the hopes of subsidizing cheap exports and bolstering their ailing economies. A low exchange rate lowers the price of a country`s goods for consumers in other countries but raises the price of imported goods for consumers in the manipulating country.

Rated 50% by the USAE, indicating a mixed record on trade.

Ratings by USA*Engage indicate support for trade engagement or trade sanctions. The organization`s self-description: `USA*Engage is concerned about the proliferation of unilateral foreign policy sanctions at the federal, state and local level. Despite the fact that broad trade-based unilateral sanctions rarely achieve our foreign policy goals, they continue to have political appeal. Unilateral sanctions give the impression that the United States is `doing something,` while American workers, farmers and businesses absorb the costs.`

USA*Engage at Work
• Developing the Case: USA*Engage explains the benefits of economic engagement, and the high cost of sanctions for American exports, investment and jobs.
• Education: We recruit respected foreign policy and economic experts to speak out against sanctions, actively engage the media and provide outreach to key target states and Congressional districts.
• Contacting Government Officials: USA*Engage directly contacts Congressional, Administration, state and local officials.

VoteMatch scoring for the USA*Engage ratings is as follows :

• 0%-49%: supports trade sanctions;
• 50%-74%: mixed record on trade engagement;
• 75%-100%: supports trade engagement.