Associated Press: Hagan details trade policy, hitting Dole on CAFTA

July 25, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C.- U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan slammed her rival for backing free trade agreements despite concerns about North Carolina jobs.

But the Democratic challenger called for fixing – not removing – such agreements.

Hagan planned to unveil her trade policies Friday in south-central North Carolina, including counties with soaring unemployment rates, talking about unemployment and trade policy. She was to visit Scotland County, which reports the state’s highest unemployment rate at 10.3 percent, as well as Wadesboro, Rockingham and Fayetteville.

Hagan released papers that question why her opponent, Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, would support pacts such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Critics say the North American partner of the agreement accelerated the decline of North Carolina’s manufacturing and textile industries.

CAFTA supporters, however, say it does the opposite. Dole helped approve the CAFTA agreement in 2005, arguing the pact would remove tariffs in other countries and bring North Carolina products to a new marketplace. She said sectors such as agriculture and pharmaceuticals would benefit.

Dole also said it would benefit the textile industry because American fabric would be used in Central America.

Hagan’s trade policy doesn’t call for the removal of CAFTA or NAFTA. Instead, Hagan wants to modify the pacts so they include enforceable labor and environmental standards to hold other countries accountable and to prevent companies from moving their operations to places without controls. And she wants the Department of Justice to have the authority to enforce trade agreements.

“When done right, trade opens up nations to new products, new opportunities, and new ideas,” Hagan wrote in introducing her plan. Her campaign said she would have voted against CAFTA as it is written.

Hagan also wants to increase government funding for research and development and increase access to technology in rural parts of the country. She would also expand tuition tax credits to improve education.

Hagan’s plan does not detail how she would pay for the programs.

Driven by a sagging national economy, North Carolina’s unemployment rate was at 5.8 percent in May – the highest level in more than four years.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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