From Times of San Diego
(Photo: Chris Stone)
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce on Thursday joined the national business community in criticizing Donald Trump‘s protectionist trade policies.
“The trade policies proposed by Donald Trump are unrealistic, counter-intuitive, and would be damaging to our economy and jobs,” said Jerry Sanders, the chamber CEO and a former mayor of San Diego.
In an economic policy speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the presumptive Republican nominee for president vowed to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreementand impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods.
“Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization — moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas,” Trump said, adding that free trade is advocated by “special interests who want to rape our country.”
He said the 22-year-old NAFTA agreement criticized by Trump has led to a 290 percent increase in California’s exports to Mexico, supporting 692,240 jobs in the state.Sanders countered that as both port and border city, San Diego is dependent on trade, exporting $17.9 billion worth of goods which support more than 110,000 local jobs.
“It is essential that the U.S. continue to open new markets for American goods and services, while creating and sustaining jobs for American workers,” said Sanders. “This is how we remain competitive and create jobs in a globalizing economy.”
The San Diego chamber, which usually supports Republican candidates, joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in criticizing Trump’s trade policy.
“Even under best-case scenario, Trump’s tariffs would strip us of at least 3.5 million jobs,” the national chamber Tweeted during Trump’s Pennsylvania speech.
The local chamber has been an advocate of major cross-border projects, including the new bridge to Tijuana’s airport, improvements to the border terminals and a re-opening of the railroad line from Baja California to San Diego.
It is the largest local chamber on the West Coast, representing more than 2,500 businesses and 300,000 jobs.
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