Jesse Ventura on Free Trade Former Independent MN Governor

Sub-sections under Free Trade:
• China
• Other issues under Free Trade

Trade creates jobs & productivity

It is vital to our economic health and continued growth in a global economy.
• Free trade fosters competition and innovation - and leads to higher productivity
• Companies that export tend to pay higher wages - and have better benefits
• And yes - companies that export DO create jobs, despite what the critics say.

I’m afraid we WILL LOSE jobs - or the opportunity to create job -- if we DON’T encourage Minnesota companies to export.

Trading with China is a no-brainer

It’s a no-brainer in my opinion. It doesn’t mean that anything more will come to us from China, but we’ll be selling a huge amount of stuff to them. It will drop tariff rates from 30% down to 10%. In most cases it will be particularly beneficial to our farmers, because China is out of farmland. If US farmers could sell our surplus to China, prices would rise and profit would be enormous.

Opening markets will cause China’s downfall

But trade barriers aren’t going to do anything to change the human rights situation in China. I think the opposite approach is called for: The best catalyst for change that China could possibly have is to get a taste of the good things democracy can create. By engaging us, and by becoming more associated with our view on human rights, I think they’ll be bringing a flood of new ideas into their country.

I think opening our markets to China will be the ultimate downfall of China’s Communism. Because when China gets a taste of what capitalism can allow them to do, its people won’t stand for it anymore. And I think the exposure the Chinese government would get in the WTO would open them up even more to international criticism.

Ease Canadian border-crossing rules.

• WHEREAS, the United States and Canada share the longest undefended border in the world; and
• WHEREAS, the United States and Canada have the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world, exceeding $1 billion every day; and
• WHEREAS, the rate of cross-border traffic is steadily increasing, with billions of dollars worth of goods and tens of millions of American and Canadian citizens crossing the land border each year; and
• WHEREAS, Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 requires the U.S. Attorney General to develop an automated entry-exit control system to register “all aliens” entering and departing the United States; and
• WHEREAS, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has indicated that it cannot meet the September 30, 1998 deadline for implementing the entry and exit tracking system and that it does not have the appropriation necessary to put the system in place; and
• WHEREAS, this system will place an unmanageable requirement on border-crossing services, impose serious delays at the Canada-U.S. land border and result in unintended negative consequences for international trade, tourism, and the economies in our region; and
• WHEREAS, reports about serious congestion at the Canada - U.S. border have generated concern and uncertainty in the business community; now therefore be it
• RESOLVED, that the Midwestern Governors’ Conference calls on Congress and the President to work to enact legislation this year that suspends implementation of Section 110 until they can ensure that any entry-exit control system, if deemed necessary, does not distrupt trade, tourism or other legitimate cross border traffic at land border points of entry.

Grant fast-track authority to the President.

• WHEREAS, The Midwestern Governors’ Conference (MGC) has recognized that agriculture producers are primarily family-owned farms and cannot compete against trade barriers such as prohibitive tariffs, excessive requirements for food items unrelated to the safety of the product, and the continued existence of state trading enterprises; and
• WHEREAS, Markets such as Europe are not approving US agricultural technology rapidly enough to allow for US products to stay competitive; now therefore be it
• RESOLVED, The MGC is committed to ensuring US agricultural exports are able to move freely in all foreign markets in order to strengthen the economic situation of the agriculture industry;
• RESOLVED, That because the Seattle Ministerial is seen as a unique opportunity to highlight American agricultural products to the WTO delegates and to insure that agriculture trade issues are not left unresolved as in previous international trade negotiations, the MGC urge US negotiators to refrain from finalizing any sector agreements, until all sector agreements are successfully negotiated;
• RESOLVED, That the MGC call upon Congress to support fast-track authority to be granted to the President;
• RESOLVED, That the MGC call for the elimination of foreign export subsidies, dumping activities, and unjustified import quotas and include these issues in negotiations with the WTO;
• RESOLVED, That the MGC urge that the United States Trade Representative focus WTO agricultural negotiations on gaining approval for new US agricultural products and technology in other markets; and
• RESOLVED, That the MGC call for the establishment of a speedy resolution process within the WTO for addressing the issues of non-tariff barriers.