Congressman Rodney Davis says the U.S. has the best chance for economic success in the coming years through bilateral trade agreements, rather than those involving more than two countries.
The Taylorville Republican cites the lack of support President Obama has seen, even from Democrats, for the multilateral Trans Pacific Partnership, or TPP. Davis says he’s happy to hear that President-elect Donald Trump has discussed global partnerships between two countries, and what that could mean for large employers in Central Illinois.
“We can’t sell mining trucks, as many mining trucks in the United States as we used to because the federal government has said over the last eight years has said we’re going to mine less in this country. So the only way to keep my constituents, who are United Auto Workers employed at our Decatur Caterpillar facility making mining trucks, is to sell them overseas. And that means we’ve got to have more bilateral agreements to do so.”
Davis made his comments today on the public radio program ‘The 21st.’ The Congressman who has traveled to Cuba, and favored greater ties with the country, says the death of Fidel Castro should pave the way for these changes.
But Davis says the Cuban government needs to embrace trade agreements, and that starts with combining two separate currencies, one kind of peso used by tourists that’s worth less than the US-dollar, and the Cuban peso citizens use that’s worth even less than that.