Political Quotes

“What trade agreements really are are setting the rules. I think you are right. There has been, I hear it, I think we all hear it. We go in our districts and people say trade is ruining us. Yet many of those same people work in companies that sell products overseas and are proud of the work that they do. They realize how specialized, how important the work is that we do, and how we often are still setting the standards in the world marketplace. But the reason to set these rules and to set the rules as strongly as we can, and we are setting them now, it doesn't mean they won't be changed at some point. They may need some tweaking, which is why you renegotiate these agreements. They don't go on forever. It is a dynamic marketplace we are in. But it also means we can then go enforce those rules. And when we see lack of enforcement, I understand that frustration. I have businesses come to me, and I have tried to advocate on their behalf to say, wait a minute, it is in the rules, and we are unfairly disadvantaged. Is there something we can do? Sometimes there is. We have seen dumping of steel. We are concerned about currency manipulation in China. These are complicated issues. In some ways, I am learning some of them myself. But the fact is there are such different systems in these different countries, and we need to recognize that.”