Following the first presidential debate on Monday evening, Professor Alan Deardorff spoke with CNN Money writer Patrick Gillespie about Trump’s characterization of NAFTA.
Trump has repeatedly called NAFTA a “terrible deal” that is responsible for the decline in American manufacturing, but many economists, including Deardorff, have argued that NAFTA is not responsible.
“It’s just nonsense to say NAFTA is responsible for the decline of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.,” says Deardorff. Many factors may have led to the decline – for example, automation and machines in factories – such that the story might not be so simple.
When asked about introducing high tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. from Mexico, Deardorff said such a plan “would be a disaster.”
Deardorff is also quoted in CNN Money's September 28 story, by Tami Luhby and Patrick Gillespie, "Trump's 'incredibly misleading' claim on Mexico."
The follow-up story focuses on Trump's assertion that U.S. companies are required to pay a tax when they sell products in Mexico, but that Mexican companies are not required to pay a tax when they sell products in the U.S.
Alan V. Deardorff is the John W. Sweetland Professor of International Economics in the Department of Economics and a professor of public policy at the Ford School; his research focuses on international trade and tariffs.