Byron Dorgan: “I would much prefer a trade bill be brought to the Senate floor that solves problems rather than creates new problems. I…”

“I would much prefer a trade bill be brought to the Senate floor that solves problems rather than creates new problems. I do not know that a trade agreement with Morocco is going to cause new problems but I do know that in trade agreement after trade agreement over a good many years, we have caused more problems, none of which ever get fixed. The problems of trade with Europe, with Japan, with Korea, with Mexico, with Canada never get fixed. Again, I do not know that this will cause problems with respect to Morocco. Morocco is one of those few countries with which we have a trade surplus. But it has been the case that in every circumstance where we negotiated a trade agreement the surpluses that existed soon turned into deficits. In fact, we have the largest trade deficit in human history right now and that trade deficit exists with China, well over $130 billion a year; we have a trade deficit with Japan, Europe, Korea, and more. The NAFTA agreement was supposed to create a massive number of new jobs, yet following the NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada we, in fact, turned a small trade surplus we had with Mexico into a very large deficit.”