Platform Plank #4 - Trade & Foreign Relations
This topic has to include trade, the United Nations, and Foreign Policy, because all are inextricably intertwined.
The globalist push that has been underway since the end of WWII, and openly pusued by both Bushes and Clinton has brought us to today's world order. For globalists and free-traders, the objectives of such policies are a more peaceful and prosperous planet. Clinton's globalism rhetoric was more focused on economic parity, while the Bushes more about spreading democracy around the world.
The common sense approach our new party takes to this topic remains consistent with the fundamental principles upon which the party was founded. Fairness and common sense dictate a trade policy that continues to encourage free trade, but also the element overlooked by past administrations - fair trade. We should demand the same openness of our trading partners' markets to US goods as they receive from ours. And it is past time for Americans to reclaim its supremacy as the leading supplier of high-quality products to the world.
Foreign importers will be scrutinized in several areas; Are they "dumping" products into the US at prices aimed at establishing a monopoly and driving competitors out of business? Are they providing the same level of open access to their markets that the US is providing them? Are they routinely stealing US patents and copyrights to copy, build and ship those products back into the US and around the world? Are government subsidies giving foreign businesses unfair advantages in the world market? Are lax environmental and safety regulations in trader countries giving them an unfair advantage? Is the use of slave and underage labor, sweatshop-style working conditions, or unfair compensation policies giving importers an unfair advantage while exploiting citizens of poor countries?
All of these are fair game in trade negotiations. China, currently the largest importer of goods into the US and enjoying the largest trade deficit in history, also has the largest untapped consumer market in the world. It is past time to get tough with China in trade negotiations that level the playing field.
There seems to be an almost complete loss of patriotism and loyalty among American corporations, who will close plants and lay off American workers without hesitation if they believe they can produce their products cheaper in a foreign country. While we should not dictate to American companies how to manage their businesses, we can enact laws that help protect citizens so callously displaced by offshoring and outsourcing.
Any profitable American operation that is closed in favor of moving it offshore to a theoretically lower-cost country will be required to compensate all its displaced employees with a severance package ranging from 2 weeks for short-term employees, up to a full year of wages for long-term employees. Even if the move remains attractive to the company with these additional costs, at least the social burden now borne by the government in taxpayer-funded assistance programs that must help those workers until they can be absorbed into another job will be greatly reduced.
The issue of immigration and jobs can also fit within this topic, but we have chosen to outline this topic separately.
Finally, the role of the United Nations as an important organization for the global community to meet and negotiate all manner of issues must remain. However, the US will continue to assert its sovereignty and will never permit any domestic policies to be controlled in any way by the UN. And the US will always reserve the right to protect herself against all foreign threats, with or without the UN's approval and cooperation.
The globalist push that has been underway since the end of WWII, and openly pusued by both Bushes and Clinton has brought us to today's world order. For globalists and free-traders, the objectives of such policies are a more peaceful and prosperous planet. Clinton's globalism rhetoric was more focused on economic parity, while the Bushes more about spreading democracy around the world.
The common sense approach our new party takes to this topic remains consistent with the fundamental principles upon which the party was founded. Fairness and common sense dictate a trade policy that continues to encourage free trade, but also the element overlooked by past administrations - fair trade. We should demand the same openness of our trading partners' markets to US goods as they receive from ours. And it is past time for Americans to reclaim its supremacy as the leading supplier of high-quality products to the world.
Foreign importers will be scrutinized in several areas; Are they "dumping" products into the US at prices aimed at establishing a monopoly and driving competitors out of business? Are they providing the same level of open access to their markets that the US is providing them? Are they routinely stealing US patents and copyrights to copy, build and ship those products back into the US and around the world? Are government subsidies giving foreign businesses unfair advantages in the world market? Are lax environmental and safety regulations in trader countries giving them an unfair advantage? Is the use of slave and underage labor, sweatshop-style working conditions, or unfair compensation policies giving importers an unfair advantage while exploiting citizens of poor countries?
All of these are fair game in trade negotiations. China, currently the largest importer of goods into the US and enjoying the largest trade deficit in history, also has the largest untapped consumer market in the world. It is past time to get tough with China in trade negotiations that level the playing field.
There seems to be an almost complete loss of patriotism and loyalty among American corporations, who will close plants and lay off American workers without hesitation if they believe they can produce their products cheaper in a foreign country. While we should not dictate to American companies how to manage their businesses, we can enact laws that help protect citizens so callously displaced by offshoring and outsourcing.
Any profitable American operation that is closed in favor of moving it offshore to a theoretically lower-cost country will be required to compensate all its displaced employees with a severance package ranging from 2 weeks for short-term employees, up to a full year of wages for long-term employees. Even if the move remains attractive to the company with these additional costs, at least the social burden now borne by the government in taxpayer-funded assistance programs that must help those workers until they can be absorbed into another job will be greatly reduced.
The issue of immigration and jobs can also fit within this topic, but we have chosen to outline this topic separately.
Finally, the role of the United Nations as an important organization for the global community to meet and negotiate all manner of issues must remain. However, the US will continue to assert its sovereignty and will never permit any domestic policies to be controlled in any way by the UN. And the US will always reserve the right to protect herself against all foreign threats, with or without the UN's approval and cooperation.
posted by Dan S. at 12:40 PM
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