I've mentioned this before, but I'm still baffled. This is from GOP VP nominee Mike Pence:
“With the TPP, it feels a little bit like Obamacare, you remember when Nancy Pelosi said, ‘we gotta pass this bill so we can find out what’s in it,’” Pence said Thursday on the Laura Ingraham Show, citing Carrier announcing it was moving 1,400 Indianapolis jobs to Mexico as proof trade deals needed to be reworked.
Earlier in the program, Pence explained why he no longer supported free trade agreements like NAFTA and TPP.
“I believe you can be convinced,” said Pence when asked if he could be trusted on trade. “You’re absolutely right, I think throughout my career I’ve strongly supported free trade in measures that have came before the Congress.”
“When I was asked to support free trade initiatives as governor of Indiana, I supported them,” he continued. “But frankly, we’re on the verge of electing one of the best negotiators in the world. As Donald and I sat down and talked earlier on, he talked to me about questioning the wisdom of these multi-country trade agreements that then, when they’re not working out, the way that clearly NAFTA is not any longer, it’s very difficult to unwind”
Pence said trade deals should be on a country-by-country basis.
More at the link, in a radio interview, about the focus on individual country deals.
Why are Trump and his supporters, who say they believe in free trade (but it's easy to have doubts), latching on to bilateralism as the answer? Do they really believe in something here, or is it just a way to criticize specific trade deals that are out there, while focusing on some vague alternative? Is the idea to focus on individual trade deals with other rich countries that won't lead to so much competition from low wage countries?