Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2013-2015: on Free Trade

Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, has opposed trade deals since Reagan

Yes, for as far back as we have records: in his 2015 book, in his 2011 book, and in his 2000 book. Some sample excerpts:

• "There are people who wish I wouldn't refer to China as our enemy. But they have destroyed entire industries and cost us tens of thousands of jobs."--Crippled America, p. 43-5, Nov. 2015
• "We need to bring manufacturing jobs back home--the jobs China is stealing."--Time to Get Tough, p. 37-9, Dec. 2011
• "You only have to look at our trade deficit to see that we are being taken to the cleaners by our trading partners. We need tougher negotiations [to] cut better deals with our world trading partners."--The America We Deserve, p.145, July 2000

John Kasich: Supports Trans-Pacific Partnership but not trade ideology

He said he doesn't mind the political backlash he could face. "I welcome the fact that people will criticize me for putting my country ahead of my party," Kasich said. Kasich and Obama could be facing an uphill battle: Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton oppose the 12-nation Pacific Rim deal, which Obama has pitched as a way to counterbalance China's rise in the region.

John Kasich: TPP takes advantage of economic opportunities in Pacific Rim

Kasich waded into the presidential debate a bit, but mainly focused his efforts on rallying Republicans away from Trump's protectionist stance and toward the party's pro-trade orthodoxy. "I think I need to spend my time making the case that we don't want to hurt US national security issue, we don't want to turn our back over there, and frankly, we don't want to put ourselves in a position where we're not taking advantage of economic opportunities," he said.

Kasich also defended the prospect of Obama pushing the TPP toward passage in a "lame duck" session of Congress, after the November 8 election but before a new president and Congress are sworn in.

Gary Johnson: I'm a real skeptic on trade agreements, but I would sign TPP

TRUMP: Ask Hillary if she is willing to withdraw from the TPP her first day in office and unconditionally rule out its passage in any form.

JOHNSON: I am a real skeptic when it comes to these trade agreements that, in fact, these trade agreements can be laden with crony capitalism. But based on people that have been advising me that I hold in very high esteem, I am being told that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would, in fact, advance free trade, and so I would support that document. The devil is in the details, though, and for the most part legislation that passes really promotes crony capitalism, promotes those that have money as opposed to a level playing field for everybody. So I am a skeptic, but based on what I know, I would sign TPP.

Donald Trump: Identify every violation of trade agreements, and prosecute

1. Withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified.
2. Appoint the toughest and smartest trade negotiators to fight on behalf of American workers.
3. Identify every violation of trade agreements a foreign country is currently using to harm our workers. I will then use every tool under American and international law to end these abuses.
4. Tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers, or submit notice under Article 2205 that America intends to withdraw from the deal.
5. Label China a currency manipulator.
6. Bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the WTO, for China's unfair subsidy behavior.
7. IUse every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes, including the application of tariffs.

Darrell Castle: Trans Pacific Partnership is not about free trade

A: Yes I do. I'm very much opposed to it. I'm not necessarily opposed to free trade. I don't think the TPP is about free trade. I really don't see any need to turn the trade sovereignty, the authority of the United States over to foreign corporations. I don't like the idea of giving international corporations, never mind foreign governments, them too, but foreign corporations, the right to sue the United States and demand that it change its trade policy. I want the United States to be a free and independent country. If we want to negotiate a deal with Mexico for example that says: you let us ship our goods to Mexico without import duties and we'll do the same for you, I have no problem with that. But that's not what the TPP is about so I'm dead set against it.

Darrell Castle: Repeal NAFTA

A: I do realize that, yes. Yes I would repeal NAFTA.

Chris Christie: Supports free trade, but distrusts Obama's TPP agreement

CHRISTIE: I don't trust this president to negotiate any deal. And that's what my answer was, to say I don't trust this president negotiating a deal. I wouldn't let this president buy me a car, that's how bad a negotiator he is. So, I will not support TPP as negotiated by this president, because I'm convinced it will be just as bad as the Iranian nuclear deal.

Donald Trump: Restrict free trade to keep jobs in US

TRUMP: I am all for free trade, but it's got to be fair. When Ford moves their massive plants to Mexico, we get nothing. I want them to stay in Michigan.

Q: But the American Enterprise Institute says, your Trump Collection clothing line, some of it is made in Mexico and China.

TRUMP: That's true. I want it to be made here.

Q: The point is you're doing just what Ford is--you're taking advantage of a global trading market.

TRUMP: I never dispute that. I just ordered 4,000 television sets from South Korea. I don't want to order them from South Korea. I don't think anybody makes television sets in the United States anymore. I talk about it all the time. We don't make anything anymore. Now you look at Boeing. Boeing's going over to China. They're going to build a massive plant because China's demanding it in order to order airplanes from Boeing.

James Webb: Skeptical about Trans-Pacific Partnership

Webb has also been skeptical about the TPP, as he usually (but not invariably) is about trade deals. He has not offered an O'Malley-style list of the elements a pact would require to get his support.

Martin O`Malley: Will only back agreements negotiated openly, unlike TPP

John Kasich: Open trade is good for us, but don't be saps

Still, he added, "I think that we have in some ways been saps. I have a friend that ran a steel company. I said, 'do you think, Koreans, for example, are dumping material and destroying our jobs?' He said, 'yes, but it takes two years to get a remedy.' That is baloney."

While he is for free trade, Kasich said, "I am for clamping down when the United States worker gets shafted because somebody is cheating on a trade agreement."

John Kasich: Trade, but not at all costs: clamp down on cheaters

Still, he added, "I think that we have in some ways been saps. I have a friend that ran a steel company. I said, `do you think Koreans are dumping material and destroying our jobs?' He said, `Yes; why don't we do something about it? It takes two years to get a remedy.' That is baloney."

While he is for free trade, Kasich said, "I am for clamping down when the US worker gets shafted because somebody is cheating on a trade agreement." Kasich said the country's problems can't be fixed with "hot rhetoric" or just one party, & his problem-solving abilities are what make him the best choice.

Donald Trump: Disastrous deals because we don't have smart negotiators

A: I think NAFTA has been a disaster. I think our current deals are a disaster. I'm a free trader. The problem with free trade is, you need smart people representing you. We have the greatest negotiators in the world, but we don't use them. We use political hacks and diplomats. We use the wrong people. Mexico is smart; they have out-negotiated us to a fare-thee-well. They're going to be the capital of automobiles pretty soon, the way they're going.

Donald Trump: China and Japan are beating us; I can beat China

When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn't exist, folks. They beat us all the time.

When do we beat Mexico at the border? They're laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they're killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems.

Donald Trump: 35% import tax on Mexican border

And you say to yourself, "How does that help us? Where is that good"? It's not. So I would say, "Let me give you the bad news. Every car and every part manufactured in this plant that comes across the border, we're going to charge you a 35% tax, and that tax is going to be paid simultaneously with the transaction.

Now, if it's not me in the position, here's what's going to happen: They're going to get a call from the donors or from the lobbyist for Ford and say, "I take care of you, and you can't do that to Ford."

I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists. I'm not using donors. I don't care.

Donald Trump: Stupid people negotiate our trade bills, & trade won't work

Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people, but we have people that are stupid. We have people that are controlled by special interests. And it's just not going to work

Bernie Sanders: Base trade policy on working families, not multinationals

SANDERS: I have been hearing that argument for the last 25 years. I heard it about NAFTA. I heard it about CAFTA. I heard it about permanent normal trade relations with China. Here is the fact. Since 2001, we have lost almost 60,000 factories and millions of good-paying jobs. I'm not saying trade is the only reason, but it is a significant reason why Americans are working longer hours for low wages and why we are seeing our jobs go to China and other low-wage countries. And, finally, what you're seeing in Congress are Democrats and some Republicans beginning to stand up and say, maybe we should have a trade policy which represents the working families of this country, that rebuilds our manufacturing base, not than just representing the CEOs of large multinational corporations.

Lindsey Graham: Make currency manipulation a key issue in trade negotiations

An amendment opponent, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called it "far too risky" because it would derail prospects for signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asian countries, subject US monetary policies to the threat of sanctions from overseas, and discourage currency exchange rate transparency by countries that export goods to the U.S. The vote, on May 22, was 48 yeas to 51 nays.

NAYS: Sen. Tim Scott R-SC

YEAS: Sen. Lindsey Graham R-SC

Rick Perry: Ex-Im Bank is corrupt; closing it helps our competitiveness

RP: Well, I think we need to be competitive. And I think we need to have a conversation about how we are more competitive by number one, changing our tax policy and changing our regulatory policy so that our companies can be more competitive. But here's what changed me. And I don't think anybody can stand up and defend the Ex-Im Bank after the corruption and fraud became.....

HH: But reform it. Don't end it, reform it.

RP: Well, and you know what? My deal is that sometimes, you've got to threaten people pretty deeply to get their attention, and doing away with them is a very powerful threat.

Hillary Clinton: TPP must produce jobs, raise wages, & protect security

Martin O`Malley: Opposing bad trade deals like TPP is just common sense

O'Malley, an opponent of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that Obama wants to sign with 11 Asian countries, has needled Clinton on her pivoting position on free trade deals.

"Hard choice?" he told supporters in an email, riffing on the title of Clint

Bernie Sanders: Wrong, wrong, wrong that trade deals create jobs here

SANDERS: In the House and Senate, I voted against all of these terrible trade agreements, NAFTA, CAFTA, permanent normal trades relations with China. Republicans and Democrats, they say, "oh, we'll create all these jobs by having a trade agreement with China." Well, the answer is, they were wrong, wrong, wrong. Over the years, we have lost millions of decent paying jobs. These trade agreements have forced wages down in America so the average worker in America today is working longer hours for lower wages.

Q: So, is that a litmus test for you, to see whether or not Clinton is going to come out against the TPP?

SANDERS: I hope very much the secretary comes out against it. I think we do not need to send more jobs to low wage countries. I think corporate America has to start investing in this country and create decent paying jobs here.

Chris Christie: Trade mission to Mexico doubles as foreign policy tour

The pillars of the Christie worldview, as gleaned from about a dozen speeches and public appearances, tend to rise from a simple observation: A high-functioning America at home, liberated from partisan dysfunction, exerts greater influence abroad. "What we say and what we do here at home affects how others see us and in turn affects what it is they say and do," Christie said in 2011.