John Kerry's main rival is having some trouble...
latimes.com
Edwards Flubs Question About Trade Dispute
By Scott Martelle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
3:22 PM PST, February 23, 2004
NEW YORK — Sen. John Edwards, who has made international trade agreements a key part of his campaign, stumbled over a question today about looming European trade sanctions, raising fresh questions about his grasp of foreign policy issues.
Over the past several days, Edwards has been asked several questions with international overtones, but has failed to address them in any meaningful way.
In a session with reporters after an event at a Manhattan UNITE union hall here today, Edwards was unaware of a contentious dispute between the United States and the European Union, which has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in March if Congress does not repeal a corporate tax credit that the World Trade Organization has ruled amounts to an illegal trade subsidy.
"I'm not sure I even know what you're talking about," Edwards said when asked whether he supports the corporate tax credits that lie at the heart of the dispute. "If I understand what you're asking, and I'm not sure I do ... I'm opposed to us using our tax system to give tax breaks to American companies who are shipping jobs overseas."
But the issue doesn't involve outsourcing jobs. The issue revolves around the Foreign Sales Corporation provision that grants federal tax credits to corporations that export good overseas.
The European Union has threatened to enact retaliatory tariffs next month on hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S.-made goods if Congress doesn't repeal the measure. Congressional leaders are holding out for a three-year transitional period before acting to rescind.
"The answer here is not to have a trade war, not to have either side impose tariffs that will create a trade war internationally," Edwards said.
Edwards also was asked about the uprising in Haiti and a U.S.-brokered power share proposal. The plan, which has not been accepted by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, would allow the embattled leader to finish out his term in 2006 if he accepts the appointment of a new prime minister approved by the rebel coalition and allows parliamentary elections that should have occurred last year.
"I think for the time being, that's the correct approach," Edwards said. "I think we just have to continue to evaluate it as we move forward."
Last week, after an appearance outside Washington D.C., Edwards offered similar cursory answers to foreign policy questions. Asked about an approach to North and South Korea and Asia in general, Edwards said his policy would be "something different than what the administration has, which is almost a nonexistent policy." Edwards also said Bush has "alienated a lot of the South Korean leadership."
Edwards called for direct negotiations - "multilateral if possible, bilateral if necessary" - with North Korea over its nuclear program, but did not spell out a game plan for what the U.S. approach should be, or detail where the United States' interests and responsibilities lie.
Edwards, who voted for the war against Iraq but voted against the ensuing $87-billion package to pay for the occupation, has routinely criticized White House policy in the Mideast. He has said the United States should ask the allies to assume border security for Iraq to let U.S. forces concentrate on the internal trouble spots, such as the so-called Sunni triangle, where attacks against American troops are a daily occurrence.
"We need to take the American face off this occupation," Edwards has said.
On other Mideast issues, Edwards has accused the Bush administration of being "disengage[d]" from the peace process despite its role in developing the so-called "road map." Edwards has said he would appoint a special envoy to work with Israel and the Palestinians in forging peace, a process he believes should start with small steps to build trust.
He uses the hypothetical example of approaching the Palestinian Authority to arrest known Hamas leaders in Palestinian-controlled areas, and asking the Israelis to relax some travel controls. |
