John Hagelin on Free Trade

	John Hagelin on Free Trade 2000 Natural Law Party Nominee for President

Balanced trade: safeguarding rights, jobs, & sovereignty

Trade is vital to a thriving US economy. Trade stimulates competition that gives American consumers more choices, better product quality, and lower prices. It is vitally important to US jobs and the economy that we achieve broad access to the international marketplace with American products. Unfortunately, as in other areas of US government policy, our trade policies are dictated by special interests.
Current trade policies leave American workers and businesses at an unfair disadvantage; threaten our environment; undermine US sovereignty and that of other nations; and promote human rights violations. I support a balanced, tailored trade program that promotes the economic welfare of all our citizens; provides markets for our domestic small businesses; safeguards American employment and labor standards-and upholds our ban on the import of products of child and slave labor; and ensures that imported goods meet our environmental and product safety standards. Source: www.Hagelin.org, ‘What Hagelin will do’ , Apr 1, 2000

Re-negotiate NAFTA & WTO, or withdraw

Our crucial trade treaties, such as NAFTA, must be revisited and vigorously renegotiated-with adequate representation by labor, environmental, and human rights proponents to ensure that America’s interests are truly upheld. In particular, the World Trade Organization (WTO), with its sweeping authority to adjudicate international trade disputes, has become a tool of multinational corporations, which have inside access to WTO negotiations that typically occur in secret. I would give the WTO twelve months to adopt more open, democratic procedures-with adequate labor, environmental and human rights input-or I would withdraw the US from the WTO and negotiate individual, tailored trade relationships with our various trade partners. Source: www.Hagelin.org, ‘What Hagelin will do’ , Apr 1, 2000

For anti-dumping & counter-tariffs; not NAFTA & Fast Track

Opposes NAFTA
Undecided on GATT & WTO
Supports imposing tariffs on products imported from nations that maintain restrictive trade barriers on American products
Agrees that a nation’s human rights record should affect its trading status with the US
Opposes Fast Track authority for trade negotiations
Strengthen anti-dumping laws
Supports an open trade policy

Source: 2000 National Political Awareness Test , Jan 13, 2000

Everybody wins when free trade works

We can have strength; we can have sovereignty; we can have independence. And on that strength of independence, trade with our neighbors. The benefit of trade is that everybody wins in a properly negotiated trade agreement. Source: America the Beautiful RealAudio Webcast , Jul 2, 1996

Free trade good in principle, if negotiated properly

A free market economy allows specialization and efficiency in who produces what. This benefit of free market dynamics extended to neighboring countries will be that prosperity will be greater for all countries involved. The way the government can make this transition as easy as possible is to put our own economy into a strong growth phase. We also need bilateral open markets [including environmental agreements] to be sure our neighbors enjoy no unfair trade advantages. Source: National NLP conference call , Sep 27, 1992

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