Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016/International trade
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2016 Presidential Election Gary Johnson 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Running mate: Bill Weld |
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This page was current as of the 2016 election.
The overview of the issue below was current as of the 2016 election.
Despite their differences on international trade as described below, the 2016 presidential candidates found agreement on one issue: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump opposed the trade deal because they believed it would cause Americans to lose jobs.
See what Gary Johnson and the 2016 Libertarian Party Platform said about international trade.
| CANDIDATE SUMMARY | |
Johnson on international trade
- During an interview with Fox Business Network’s Charles Payne on July 28, 2016, Gary Johnson discussed free trade. Johnson said, “Free trade is the opposite of crony capitalism. Free trade needs to be promoted in a really big way. Diplomacy, that’s what we ought to be engaged in. I reject the fact that libertarians are isolationists – Donald Trump is [an] isolationist… we want free trade to prevail.”[2]
- In a March 2011 interview, Gary Johnson said that although he supported free trade, most free trade agreements at the time were products of "corporatism." He said that "the criticism of NAFTA should be rooted in the fact that big business became even bigger business."[3][4]
Trans-Pacific Partnership
- On July 27, 2016, Bill Weld, Gary Johnson's running mate, said that he and Johnson supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and free trade in general. Weld said, “We’re the only free trade ticket in the race.” He added, “I’m convinced TPP is good policy. I’m not sure that the rank-and-file members in Congress agree with Mr. Trump on that. Until quite recently, you thought of the Republican party as the free trade party. It’s just Mr. Trump that’s gone off the reservation. … [The TPP] brings us in under the rubric, under the tent of a free trade area with 11 nations…in Asia that does not include China. So it’s almost like an informal economic alliance with those 11 countries. So it’s more than a beachhead - it’s planting the flag, economic flag big-time in Asia, and that’s worth a lot to us.”[5]
- Weld also praised former President Bill Clinton for getting the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) approved. Weld said, “That was done with Republican votes and Bill Clinton pulled it off, and I think it was an enduring part of his legacy.” When asked about Trump and Sanders' opposition to NAFTA, Weld said, “I say that they’re mistaken and President Bill Clinton was right. Free trade, over the years, has served the United States very well. We are the most productive country in the world per worker, and that means where there’s [flat] free trade we’re always going to get more high-wage jobs. … Trump is saying let’s throw free trade in the wastebasket, let’s have a closed economy. Somebody should lend this guy a set of history books. That was tried in the 20s, and it led to the Great Depression.”[5]
- During an interview on July 3, 2016, Johnson told CNN that he would sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership if elected. Johnson said, "I'm being told [by advisors] that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would, in fact, advance free trade, and so I would support that document."[6]
- During an interview on June 6, 2016, with Politico's Glenn Thrush, Johnson said, "Would I have signed or implemented the Trans-Pacific Partnership? I've got to tell you, I think it's laden with crony capitalism. Free market really is the answer. It's the answer to unifying the whole planet, in my opinion, and if China wants to subsidize the goods that it sells to the United States, who benefits from that? Well, we do. And at the end of the day, who pays for any sort of tariffs? We do. So free trade, genuine free trade, that's another one of Trump's--you know, hey, he says 'I'm all for free trade' but then, in the next sentence, he says, 'I'm going to force Apple to make their iPads and their iPhones in the United States.' Hm, that sounds really free trade to me."[7]
| The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform on free trade | ||||||
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Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Reason.com, "Gary Johnson To Announce He's Running for President Today," January 6, 2016
- ↑ Fox Business Network, "While Jill Stein Rallies Sanders Supporters, Gary Johnson Keeps ‘Low Profile’," July 28, 2016
- ↑ Scribd, "Club for Growth: 2012 Presidential White Paper #9," July 21, 2011
- ↑ YouTube, "Former NM Gov. Gary Johnson On the Issues," March 24, 2011
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Washington Times, "Bill Weld: Libertarian Party 'the only free trade ticket in the race,"' accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Gary Johnson: Trump says 'racist' things and should be disqualified from presidency," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Full transcript: POLITICO's Glenn Thrush interviews Gary Johnson," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Libertarian Party, "The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
