posted on September 21, 2004 03:59:31 PM new
Bush and Kerry on the Issues: Trade
1 hour, 49 minutes ago
By The Associated Press
Three times a week, The Associated Press picks an issue and asks President Bush (news - web sites) and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) a question about it. Today's question and responses:
[b]TRADE[b]: Has the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada been good, on balance, for the U.S. economy?
Bush: "NAFTA has enabled Mexico, Canada, and the United States to expand our solid, dynamic, and mutually beneficial trading partnership. In its first 10 years, NAFTA has helped increase exports to Canada and Mexico by 85 percent. NAFTA has been a powerful force for increasing the international competitiveness of all three economies, for attracting enormous flows of inward investment, and for contributing to the record productivity growth we have experienced for the past decade. My administration has enforced our trade agreements fairly. These agreements are helping to in-source hundreds of thousands of jobs to the United States. More than 6 million Americans draw their paychecks from foreign companies, working right here in the United States. We will continue to pursue free and fair trade agreements that will open foreign markets to American businesses and ensure that our trading partners are abiding by their commitments."
Kerry: "President Clinton (news - web sites) was trying to move us in the right direction on job creation and on including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. I supported him and I made the right decision. We created jobs and opened markets, but since then we have learned that we need to go even further on labor and environment standards. John Edwards (news - web sites) and I will fight so strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards are included in the core of future trade agreements, like they were in the Jordan Free Trade Agreement. And we will enforce our trade deals, so that NAFTA and future agreements do not allow investment rules to undermine environmental standards either here or in our trading partners."
