Trump's 7 Steps to Bring Back U.S. Jobs
In the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump slammed what he described as America’s shift toward globalization and laid out his seven-step plan for economic reassurance during a speech Tuesday.
"Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization -- moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas," Trump said at an aluminum recycling plant in Monessen, Pennsylvania. "Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very, very wealthy. I used to be one of them. Hate to say it, but I used to be one of them.”
Trump said America changed its policy by switching from promoting growth within to manufacturing abroad.
“We allow foreign countries to subsidize their goods, devalue their currency, violate their agreements, and cheat in every way imaginable and our politicians did nothing about it,” he said.
The business mogul said the U.S.’ dependency on foreign countries restricts it from economic prosperity and calls for reversing “two of the worst legacies of the Clinton years,” the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“America has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997 - even as the country has increased its population by 50 million people,” Trump said.
Trump attacked the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for supporting the free trade deals signed by former President Bill Clinton.
“NAFTA was the worst trade deal in history, and China's entrance into the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest jobs theft in history,” he said.
According to Trump, the quickest way to bring back jobs to America is by renegotiating existing trade deals and penalize countries like China who Trump says have been dealing unfairly with the U.S.
Here are seven steps Donald Trump would pursue to bring back jobs:
- Withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Appoint the toughest and smartest trade negotiators to fight on behalf of American workers.
- Direct the Secretary of Commerce to identify every violation of trade agreements a foreign country is currently using to harm our workers, then direct all appropriate agencies to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses.
- Tell NAFTA partners I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers. If they do not agree to a renegotiation, then I will submit notice under Article 2205 of the NAFTA agreement that America intends to withdraw from the deal.
- Instruct Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator. Any country that devalues their currency in order to take advantage of the United States will be met with sharply
- Instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the WTO. China's unfair subsidy behavior is prohibited by the terms of its entrance to the WTO, and I intend to enforce those rules.
- If China does not stop its illegal activities, including its theft of American trade secrets, I will use every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes, including the application of tariffs consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.