Free Trade Agreements

 · Another way to grow our economy is to expand the markets for our businesses. Well-negotiated free trade agreements expand those markets and protect American patents and intellectual property. 

· I served as a State Department representative on the U.S. Trade Representative-led teams that renegotiated NAFTA, explored a free-trade deal with the European Union (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and began initial free trade treaty talks with the United Kingdom after their Brexit vote. Contrary to accusations by protectionists, our USTR negotiators are excellent at what they do. In every sector I observed, the USTR negotiators and staff knew every facet, statistic, and historic detail of their trade specialties, and we should authorize USTR to use their talents to the fullest extent in order to gain the market access that many countries deny to American exporters.

· I also was a delegate to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. began to take more forceful stances in that forum against Chinese and Indian trade barriers and their false reporting of trade-distorting domestic subsidies. We built effective working alliances with like-minded free-trading countries, such as Australia, an if elected, I will be a vocal voice in Congress to increase our efforts to ensure that the WTO plays the role it was intended play in creating fair international commerce.