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Obama camp hits McCain on trade deficit |
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By Klaus Marre
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Posted: 08/12/08 11:13 AM [ET] |
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Though the Commerce Department announced Tuesday that the trade deficit had unexpectedly dropped in June, Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign used the figures to attack rival John McCain on trade. “While Sen. McCain may believe that the small reduction in the trade deficit represents great progress in an economy he thinks is doing just fine, Barack Obama believes that America can do better than a $693 billion trade deficit over the last year,” said Jason Furman, who is Obama’s (D-Ill.) economic policy director. Aided by strong exports, the June trade deficit shrunk to $56.8 billion from $59.2 billion in May. It was the smallest deficit in three months and much lower than predicted. However, the Obama campaign noted that the trade imbalance is still “massive,” with Furman saying that Sen. McCain’s (R-Ariz.) trade policies would only make matters worse. “Instead, we need to change our economic policies by investing in education, new energy jobs, and technology so that we can strengthen the productivity of our workers and businesses; by enforcing our existing trade agreements and negotiating better trade agreements; and by reducing record budget deficits and raising low savings rates so that America does not have to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars annually from abroad,” Furman stated. |
