http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/06/30/donald-trump-sees-trade-plan-resulting-in-better-jobs-but-higher-prices/Donald Trump Sees Trade Plan Resulting in Better Jobs, Higher PricesBy REID J. EPSTEIN
Jun 30, 2016 5:36 pm ET
Donald Trump on Thursday said his trade proposals would mean better jobs for American workers and higher prices for U.S. consumers.
Speaking at a shuttered factory in Manchester, N.H., Mr. Trump reiterated large segments of the trade speech he made Tuesday, reading from notes the steps he would take to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership while formally labeling China a currency manipulator.
But for the first time the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said that the effects of his policies would be to drive up prices for American consumers, which he said would be worthwhile if it meant manufacturing jobs are relocated from abroad back to the U.S.
“We’re better off paying a little bit more and having jobs,” Mr. Trump said. “It was a much better system, the way it used to be.”
Mr. Trump added that it would be better for the U.S. economy if products cost more and more Americans were employed.
“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, well the goods will be cheaper, they’ll come in and they’ll be cheaper,’ ” Mr. Trump said. “Yeah, but we lost all our jobs. So we’re better off if they’re not quite as cheap and the goods will also be of a higher quality, because we do a higher quality good and we’re known for that. But all of a sudden, the jobs are gone and frankly, the goods can come in cheaply, but people don’t have any money to buy them, and that’s a problem.”
Mr. Trump’s call for Americans to pay more for goods manufactured domestically comes in the midst of constant criticism from Democrats that the GOP standard bearer has spent his career profiting by making Trump-branded products overseas.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Tuesday noted that Trump-branded golf shirts are made in Bangladesh. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown this week noted that another of Mr. Trump’s clothing line is made in Mexico, his furniture line is manufactured in Turkey and his picture frames are produced in India.
“He’s never in his own business said, ‘We should find a way to make these things here,” Mr. Brown said in a conference call with reporters arranged by Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. “The reality is Donald Trump lines his pockets at the expense of American workers
