Obama on trade PDF Print E-mail
Written by Stumo   
Tuesday, 19 February 2008

Since I just reviewed Clinton's new plan on trade and the economy, it's worth looking at Obama's campaign website pronouncements.  Less specific at this point.  Though he and Hillary have been taking mild jabs at each other on the trade agreements, trying to look tough.  Note that I am happy with the two campaigns' cynicism on trade, but distrust Obama's economic advisor Austan Goolsbee and Hillary's Robert Rubin connections.

Here is what Obama currently has on his campaign website:

Obama believes that trade with foreign nations should strengthen the American economy and create more American jobs. He will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security.

*  Fight for Fair Trade: Obama will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement that fail to live up to those important benchmarks. Obama will also pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports.
*  Amend the North American Free Trade Agreement: Obama believes that NAFTA and its potential were oversold to the American people. Obama will work with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to fix NAFTA so that it works for American workers.
*  Improve Transition Assistance: To help all workers adapt to a rapidly changing economy, Obama would update the existing system of Trade Adjustment Assistance by extending it to service industries, creating flexible education accounts to help workers retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs.

Weak tea.  There is a modest bit more muscle, especially on currency manipulation in another Obama economic policy document (pdf document) which says:

Fight for Fair Trade: At 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product, our trade deficit has never been higher. Barac Obama will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm agains agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that fail to live up to those importan benchmarks. Obama will also pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and sto countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S exports. Obama will fight for stronger protections for U.S. intellectual property, and – in the case of China inparticular – an end to an artificially devalued currency that puts U.S. companies at a perpetual disadvantage.

 

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its how you say it.

Sounds kinda like our economy right now.