First 2016 Presidential Debate: on Free Trade

Donald Trump: FactCheck: NAFTA reduced U.S. jobs by 1%, not 30% or 50%

Bloomberg Fact check: NAFTA had a modest effect on manufacturing jobs. An Economic Policy Institute analysis says manufacturing jobs dropped in the 1990s from 17.9 million to 17.6 million.

Trump said of Hillary, "She's been doing this for 30 years. And why hasn't she made the agreements better? The NAFTA agreement is defective," [implying that Hillary and Bill Clinton held primary responsibility for NAFTA]. Chicago Tribune fact-checkers noted that while NAFTA was signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, it was largely negotiated under the administration of George H.W. Bush.

Donald Trump: FactCheck: yes, Ford plant in Mexico, but no U.S. job cuts

Ford is moving production of the Ford Focus and Ford C-Max from its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to Mexico in 2018. Ford said in April it plans to invest $1.6 billion to build a new plant in Mexico and create 2,800 jobs to build small cars there. However, Ford also plans to replace the products it makes in Wayne with two new vehicles and has repeatedly said no jobs will be lost. Ford's CEO said that "zero" jobs will be lost in the US and said "it is really unfortunate when politics get in the way of the facts."

Trumps' comments also prompted tweets from both Ford and the UAW countering Trump's claims. The automaker also made a commitment in November to invest $9 billion in U.S. plants and creates or retains more than 8,500 jobs as part of a new four-year contract with the UAW.

Donald Trump: FactCheck: No, VATs are not tariffs against US exports

When a company in Germany makes goods to sell at home, it has to pay the VAT. But if it makes them to sell in the US, it doesn't--the tax gets waived at the border. If a US company sells in Germany, it does have to pay the VAT. [The UC Irvine] interpretation is that] border adjustability turns the VAT into an "implicit export subsidy" for foreign companies and an "implicit tariff" on US exporters. This is just dead wrong. Everybody has to pay Germany's VAT when they're selling goods in Germany. Nobody has to pay Germany's VAT when they're selling goods outside of Germany.

You can't really blame Trump for this one: a guy with a PhD in economics fed this stuff to him.

Gary Johnson: Free trade, not isolationism; low spending, not taxes

GARY JOHNSON: Free trade, not isolationism, is what will lead to more U.S. jobs.

CLINTON: Well, I think that trade is an important issue. Of course, we are 5 percent of the world's population; we have to trade with the other 95 percent. And we need to have smart, fair trade deals. We also, though, need to have a tax system that rewards work and not just financial transactions.

GARY JOHNSON: All the tax increases in the world are not going to balance the budget. Spending MUST be addressed

Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: Yes, called TPP "gold standard," unambiguously

THE FACT CHECKER: Trump is right. Clinton is subtly adjusting her words here when confronted with a question about her consistency on policy positions. The fact is she never used the word "hoped." Instead, she was more declarative, using the phrase "gold standard" when she was Secretary of State: "This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field," she said in Australia in 2012. "And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the world's total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment."

Jill Stein: We want antidotes to NAFTA

Jill Stein: Everything that Donald Trump markets is an off-shored manufactured item. So Donald Trump knows all about it. In fact, he advised that people close their factories and move somewhere and then impose low wages on the workers. We are calling for the antidote to NAFTA. The Green New Deal, investing in people, 20 million living wage jobs that will transition us to 100 percent clean energy.

Hillary Clinton: Well, I think that trade is an important issue, of course. We are five percent of the world's population--we have to trade with the other ninety five percent. And we need to have smart fair trade deals.

Donald Trump: Renegotiate NAFTA; they charge us 16%; we charge nothing

We have to renegotiate our trade deals. They're taking our jobs, they're giving incentives, they're doing things that, frankly, we don't do. Let me give you the example of Mexico. They have a VAT tax. We're on a different system. When we sell into Mexico, there's a tax. When they sell in--automatic, 16 percent, approximately. When they sell into us, there's no tax. It's a defective agreement. It's been defective for a long time, many years, but the politicians haven't done anything about it. But in all fairness to Secretary Clinton, when she started talking about this, it was really very recently. She's been doing this for 30 years. And why hasn't she made the agreements better? The NAFTA agreement is defective. We owe $20 trillion. We cannot do it any longer.

Donald Trump: Tax imports when U.S. companies manufacture abroad

Donald Trump: NAFTA was worst trade deal ever; TPP is a close second

Clinton: Well, that is just not accurate. I was against it once it was finally negotiated and the terms were laid out.

Hillary Clinton: Support deals good for US economy & security; not CAFTA!