Chamber of Commerce, business groups blast Trump over trade
The Chamber of Commerce and other business groups blasted Donald Trump's views on trade Tuesday, shortly after the presumptive Republican nominee railed against international trade deals and promised to tear them up during a speech in a western Pennsylvania town.
"Under Trump's trade plans, we would see higher prices, fewer jobs, a weaker economy," the Chamber said in a tweet storm on its feed, directing readers to a blog post that said Trump's policies would lead to millions of job losses and a recession.
Under Trump's trade plans, we would see higher prices, fewer jobs, and a weaker economy https://t.co/3xcCNgiS2k pic.twitter.com/9jPtGXAOlQ
— U.S. Chamber (@USChamber) June 28, 2016
Setting Things Straight: NAFTA has NOT been a disaster for the U.S. https://t.co/zpSODANXH9
— U.S. Chamber (@USChamber) June 28, 2016
Many economists have dismissed Trump's promise to immediately restore manufacturing jobs as dubious at best, given the impact of automation and the many years it typically takes to negotiate trade agreements.
While renegotiating tougher deals with America's foreign trading partners might help some businesses, manufacturing as a share of total U.S. jobs has been slipping for several decades. The number of such jobs has risen slightly since the end of the Great Recession, but the introduction of robotics and access to cheaper foreign markets has reduced U.S. factory employment to a total last seen around 1941.
The National Association of Manufacturers also slammed Trump's logic on Tuesday: the organization's president, Jay Timmons, wrote on Twitter that Trump's policies "have it backward."
.@realDonaldTrump you have it backward. Trade is GOOD for #mfg workers & #jobs. Let's #MakeAmericaTradeAgain. https://t.co/XylgW023aX
— Jay Timmons (@JayTimmonsNAM) June 28, 2016
Donald Trump later fired back at the Chamber, tweeting that the business group "must fight harder for the American worker. China, and many others, are taking advantage of U.S. with our terrible trade pacts."
In another tweet, Trump questioned the Chamber:
Why would the USChamber be upset by the fact that I want to negotiate better and stronger trade deals or that I want penalties for cheaters?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2016
At a rally in Bangor, Maine Wednesday, Trump upped his attacks on the Chamber, telling supporters that the association was "controlled totally by various groups of people that don't care about you whatsoever."
"Why would you be upset?" Trump asked of the Chamber. "I'm all for free trade. The problem with free trade is you need smart people making deals. We don't have good deals and free trade is killing us."