[CTC] Free Trade Puts Republican Megadonors on Collision Course With Trump

Tue Jun 5 08:08:19 PDT 2018

Several articles — and the Koch brothers' campaign goals, which include “modernizing” NAFTA and reviving the TPP and TTIP — are pasted below...

New York Times
Free Trade Puts Republican Megadonors on Collision Course With Trump
By Reuters
June 4, 2018

WASHINGTON — Groups backed by powerful Republican donors Charles and David Koch said on Monday they will champion free trade and oppose tariffs with a multimillion-dollar campaign that puts them on a collision course with President Donald Trump.

The embrace of free trade principles by major Republican donors comes as Trump pursues aggressive measures against trading partners from China to Canada and U.S. allies in Europe, in line with his campaign pledge to pursue better trade deals.

An infusion of money into media, grassroots mobilization, lobbying and policy analysis into the domestic debate on free trade could embolden Republican candidates in the November congressional elections to part ways with the president on the issue.

Republican lawmakers, already grumbling about some of Trump's trade initiatives, outright condemned the Commerce Department announcement last week on impending tariffs on steel imports and aluminum to be imposed on the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

In a statement, the Koch-backed groups said they would push Trump to lift those steel and aluminum tariffs, the recent tariffs on solar panels and washing machines as well the proposed tariffs for imports from China. 

"The Trump administration has taken some incredibly positive steps for the American economy, but tariffs will undercut that progress and needlessly hamstring our full economic potential," said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, a Koch advocacy group.

The groups said they would advocate that Trump reduce or eliminate trade barriers by modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and returning to the negotiating table on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Congress should abolish farm subsidies on crops, commodities and crop insurance and end subsidies for green energy as well as repeal the "buy America" requirement and the Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be carried on ships that are domestically owned.

The Koch-funded Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and the LIBRE Initiative are also involved in the initiative.
The billionaire Koch brothers have been a force in American politics since the 1980s. Their influence has largely been powered by a fortune centered on Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company in the United States with annual revenues of more than $115 billion from interests in energy, chemicals and other sectors.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, the Kochs kept their distance from Trump. Charles Koch spoke out against Trump's proposed Muslim registry, invoking a comparison to Nazi Germany.

The Koch network did not actively campaign against Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary or pour money into his campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton. By contrast, the Koch network spent more than $120 million in the unsuccessful 2012 effort to defeat President Barack Obama.

After the 2016 election, however, the Kochs found common ground with the new Republican president on issues including rolling back federal regulations and pulling out of the Paris global climate accord. 

"This campaign makes a clear statement: Trade is a major priority for our network. We will work aggressively to educate policymakers and others about the facts," said James Davis, executive vice president of Freedom Partners.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Caren Bohan; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

http://freedompartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Trade-vision-and-principles.pdf

Freedom Partners    Americans For Prosperity   The Libre Initiative
AMERICAN TRADE: DRIVEN BY FREEDOM

Barriers to trade make Americans poorer. The United States should embrace free trade and its many benefits to the American people, and work to eliminate trade barriers, not erect them.

PRINCIPLES

Individuals, businesses, and countries should be free to engage in the voluntary exchange of goods and services, which improves lives by growing the economy, increasing pay checks, and creating new and better jobs.

×  Trade is mutually beneficial to all trading partners.

×  Trade allows businesses and individuals to make the most of their comparative advantages – focusing on

what they do most efficiently and trading for things that others can do at lower cost.

×  Trade increases access to a rich array of high-quality and lower-cost products and services.

×  Trade has helped lift millions of Americans out of poverty, improve our standard of living, and modernize

our economy.

×  Conversely, tariffs and other protectionist policies supported by tariffs represent a tax on consumers and

businesses, limiting economic opportunity and stifling growth.

The president should reduce or eliminate trade barriers through international agreements, including:

×  modernizing NAFTA;

×  concluding an agreement with the United Kingdom;

×  resuming negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union; and

×  returning to the negotiating table on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Individuals and businesses in a competitive market, not government bureaucrats or politicians, should guide trade decisions.

×  Trade policy should embrace competition, which requires businesses to constantly innovate and find more efficient and affordable ways to deliver products and services that help fuel economic growth.

×  Trade policy should not favor one U.S. business or industry over another. This will create a competitive environment without propping up unsuccessful businesses or businesses that are politically connected.

×  Trade policy should not be guided by trade deficits, which may sound ominous but, in reality, are not proper indicators of healthy trading relationships, economic prosperity, or growth.

×  Managed or “strategic” trade, in which the government attempts to manage our international trade through arbitrary trade targets, undermines free enterprise and should be rejected.

Rather than managed trade, policymakers should support expanding existing agreements and seeking new agreements with trading partners that include processes for resolving trade disagreements, and rules that advance mutual benefit and free and voluntary exchange with the least amount of government interference.

Punitive measures such as tariffs and quotas harm most consumers, workers, and businesses and should be eliminated.

× Trade barriers like tariffs and quotas suppress opportunity, prosperity, and well-being. They are a step backward and harm many workers, consumers, and companies both here at home and in other countries.

× Protectionist policies create artificial winners and losers, while open trade offers a win-win that delivers the best results for the most people.

The president should:

×  permanently lift the recent steel and aluminum tariffs that are harming American workers and businesses in industries

that use those materials;

×  permanently lift the proposed additional tariffs on imports from China, which are causing uncertainty for most domestic

businesses and workers;

×  permanently lift the recent solar panel and washing machine tariffs that are harming American consumers and families;

×  drop consideration of new tariffs for imported autos; and

×  avoid any new tariffs or other trade restrictions.

Congress should end quotas on sugar, dairy, and other commodities that favor some farmers but harm consumers and downstream producers.

Subsidies and other forms of government supports for powerful and politically connected businesses and industries do not create value. They punish consumers, insulate businesses from market competition, and should be eliminated.

Congress should:

×  abolish farm subsidies on crops, commodities, and crop insurance;

×  end subsidies for green energy;

×  repeal the Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on vessels that are domestically

built, crewed, and owned;

×  repeal the buy America requirement that raises costs on taxpayer-funded federal projects; and

×  abolish the Export-Import Bank, OPIC, and other programs that subsidize exports or specific industries.

Trade disputes should be resolved through existing international trade agreements and organizations. Policymakers should modernize dispute resolution procedures in the World Trade Organization in areas such as digital trade and

intellectual property.

Congress should:

×  revisit existing trade authorities granted to the executive branch to ensure that required economic analysis reflect all the

benefits of trade across the entire economy, not just a single industry; and

×  implement a check and balance in which tariffs must pass an amendment-free up-or-down vote before the House and

Senate similar to Trade Promotion Authority.

While national security interests may be a consideration in trade policy, they should be used to restrict trade only when there is truly a narrow national security interest at stake, not as a work around to impose tariffs.

Congress should:

×  revisit trade authority granted to the executive branch and ensure that national security risks are assessed with a

thorough analysis using strong and consistent criteria; and

×  implement a check and balance in which tariffs must pass an amendment-free up-or-down vote before the U.S. House

and Senate similar to Trade Promotion Authority. 

Politico Pro

Koch network unleashes multimillion dollar trade blitz

By Maggie Severns 

June 4, 2018
The powerful network of outside groups founded by the Koch brothers is rolling out a multimillion dollar campaign promoting free trade, in the wake of new tariffs announced last week by the Trump administration.

“The Trump administration has taken some incredibly positive steps for the American economy, but tariffs will undercut that progress and needlessly hamstring our full economic potential. There are better ways to negotiate trade deals than by punishing American consumers and businesses with higher costs,” Tim Phillips, president of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, said in a statement. 

“Instead of pursuing protectionist policies that we already know don’t work, let’s help everyone win by expanding trade, opening new markets and lowering costs.”

The campaign will include paid media, as well as lobbying and activist work, the Koch network said today. Three Koch network groups will participate in the drive: Freedom Partners, AFP and The LIBRE Initiative.

The groups released a statement of principles <http://freedompartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Trade-vision-and-principles.pdf> today that called on President Donald Trump to “reduce or eliminate trade barriers through international agreements,” including updating NAFTA and resuming negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Many Republicans backed away from full-fledged support for free trade on the campaign trail in recent years as voters grew concerned about the decline in American manufacturing jobs-- and Trump successfully capitalized on those concerns during his campaign for president. But the groups led by the libertarian Koch brothers do not equivocate in their calls for free trade.

“Trade barriers like tariffs and quotas suppress opportunity, prosperity, and well-being,” the statement of principles says. “They are a step backward and harm many workers, consumers, and companies both here at home and in other countries.”

INSIDE US TRADE
Koch-funded business groups plan major effort to defeat Trump tariffs
June 04, 2018

Three business-oriented groups funded by major conservative political donors have announced a campaign to promote free trade and combat tariffs.

Backed by Charles and David Koch, among the more prominent supporters of conservative politicians and causes, the groups -- Freedom Partners, Americans for Prosperity and the LIBRE Initiative -- announced “a multi-year, multimillion-dollar initiative to champion the far-reaching benefits of trade and oppose tariffs and other barriers.”

The campaign will consist of “paid media, activist education and grassroots mobilization, lobbying and policy analysis -- all intended to transform the way Washington and the rest of the country consider and value trade with other nations,” the statement adds. It includes links to previous statements from the groups decrying Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods.

Freedom Partners Executive Vice President James Davis said in the statement that the groups were making a “long-term commitment to advance common-sense trade policies that will ensure America’s brightest days are ahead, and to directly confront the protectionist ideas that would hold us back.”

Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips added in the statement that the administration “has taken some incredibly positive steps for the American economy,” but said tariffs -- which have sparked a host of retaliatory threats from other countries, including close allies -- will set it back.

“There are better ways to negotiate trade deals than by punishing American consumers and businesses with higher costs,” Phillips said. “Instead of pursuing protectionist policies that we already know don’t work, let’s help everyone win by expanding trade, opening new markets and lowering costs.”

LIBRE Initiative President Daniel Garza cited concern for Hispanics and low-income workers who he said “are among the most badly hurt by this drag on economic growth and government-mandated price increases.” The group -- which bills itself as “a non-partisan, non-profit grassroots organization that advances the principles and values of a free and open society to empower the U.S. Hispanic community” -- is “pleased to stand with those who understand how greatly America benefits from trade -- and how badly hurt we are by tariffs and other barriers,” he said in the statement.

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