Hagan on trade
The Obama administration's chief trade negotiator, Ron Kirk, said yesterday that there were problems with NAFTA but that the whole thing didn't need to be rewritten. In remarks reported by Reuters, CQ and the Dallas Morning News, Ross said:
"The president has said we will look at all options, but I think they can be addressed without having to reopen the agreement," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told reporters in a conference call on trade issues discussed at the Summit of Americas meeting this past weekend in Trinidad.
Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, went out of her way to take umbrage at the remark, sending reporters a news release Tuesday:
“While I understand the President’s desire to maintain a good relationship with our North American trading partners, I am disappointed US Trade Representative Ron Kirk has said it is not necessary to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),” said Hagan. “This country’s current trade policy is not working. The manufacturing economy in North Carolina has suffered and far too many North Carolinians have lost their jobs. It is only right we require our trading partners to enforce the labor and environmental standards that we ask of our manufacturing industry.”
Worth noting, a lot of textile jobs that used to be held by North Carolina workers have found their way to Central and South America.
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