Byron Dorgan: “There is this blame America strategy that has been around for years that, if you can't compete, whatever the situations…”

“There is this blame America strategy that has been around for years that, if you can't compete, whatever the situations are, tough luck. That means in a free-trade circumstance, jobs might go elsewhere, but consumers benefit by cheaper imports. The interesting thing about this is, most of our large trading partners--especially, for example, Japan and China--are engaged in managed trade, not free trade. We, on the other hand, have always been a leader in what is called free trade. I described yesterday watching two people dance at a wedding dance when I was a kid. He was dancing a waltz and she was dancing a two-step. It didn't work out well. They were dancing different dances. In international trade, what is happening to us is, we are confronting Japan, for example, with whom we have an abiding yearly massive trade deficit of $40 to $60 billion every year, as far as you can see back and as far as you can see forward. We have that kind of trade deficit. Why? Because Japan has a managed trade strategy, and that is the method by which they trade with us. We, apparently, are perfectly content to say, ``Well, if that is the way it is, there is nothing we can do about that.'' But there is something we can do about that.”