State of Montana Archives: on Free Trade

Wilmot Collins: Fight to keep markets open for family farmers

Albert Olszewski: Governor should be #1 salesperson for agriculture abroad

Olszewski said the fault doesn't lie with Trump, saying instead the challenge is global overproduction and market manipulation. "We're going to find a way that we create an even playing field for our producers so that they are not gamed, especially against the processors," Olszewski said. Olszewski also said he would be "the best salesman for our agriculture."

Tim Fox: Countries abused free trade; will work to resolve trade war

Jon Tester: Tariffs on China harm our industries & drive up costs

Matt Rosendale (R): Yes. "We've had a trade war going on for decades. now we have a president who said we're not going to tolerate it."

Jon Tester (D): No. "These tariffs are harming our state's top industries by creating market uncertainty & driving up costs."

Matt Rosendale: Stop tolerating what China has been doing for decades

Matt Rosendale (R): Yes. "We've had a trade war going on for decades. now we have a president who said we're not going to tolerate it."

Jon Tester (D): No. "These tariffs are harming our state's top industries by creating market uncertainty & driving up costs."

Matt Rosendale: China is a cheater; need fairer free trade deal

John Edward Walsh: Don't ship American jobs to China

Daines says Walsh "supported shipping American jobs to China," referring to President Obama's economic stimulus. But Walsh wasn't in the Senate at the time and didn't vote on the legislation. A small portion of the stimulus did go to Chinese firms, but Walsh had nothing to do with the award of stimulus contracts.

Walsh says Daines worked to build factories in China "at the same time Daines' company was firing thousands of American workers here." Daines did help Procter & Gamble expand in China in the 1990s, but the company says Daines was not involved in strategic corporate decisions. Moreover, the implication that expansion in China came at the expense of U.S. jobs is unsupported.

Steve Daines: Worked for 6 years bringing U.S. consumer products to China

Independently, both of those claims are more or less accurate. But we think the clear implication is that one caused the other, and that Daines was responsible for it. On both of those scores, clear evidence is lacking.

Daines, then 29, worked for P&G in China from 1991 to 1997 to help expand the company bringing U.S. consumer products into China. And in 1993, P&G announced a plan to "streamline" its operations by closing 30 plants and eliminating 13,000 jobs worldwide--including four plants and 4,000 jobs in the U.S. But did expansion in China come at the expense of American jobs? Walsh campaign officials claim it did. [We rule that there's no support] that Daines was responsible.

John Edward Walsh: On trade mission: Montana is open for business

"I can tell you that we're here today to celebrate the fact that Montana is open for business," Walsh said. "Eastern Montana is the land of opportunity. It is home to the biggest energy boom in America. That's something we can be proud of.

Stan Jones: NAFTA leads to American Union as part of one-world Communism

The combining of national government started with the European Union--that union started with trade agreements; then a common currency, the Euro; & now a European Parliament that is feverishly passing laws that override the laws of the member nations

Now it’s North America’s turn. Building on NAFTA, the Commerce Department is busy drafting laws and regulations for a North American Union, a union of the Canada, America, and Mexico. No treaty has been signed, so Congress has not become not involved However, money from our treasury is now being spent for this effort. We will have a new currency, the Amero; and a new Constitution, modeled on the Soviet Union’s constitution.

Huge amounts of property will be taken in the name of free trade.

Judy Martz: Trade as “sister-states” in Japan, China, & Taiwan