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1936 › Alf Landon (Republican) › Executive reciprocal trade agreements (1934 Act)
Repeal the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act; return treaty power to the Senate and tariff-making to Congress
pledge_forwardspecific_pledgecandidate_directevidence B Executive PowerTrade & Tariffs similar solutions · similar reasoning
Solution
Repeal the 1934 Act as 'futile and dangerous', restore the flexible tariff and Tariff Commission, and require that trade treaties be ratified by the Senate or tariff changes enacted by Congress.
Rationale
Under eight agreements farm imports rose 84 percent against a 26 percent rise in exports -- 'charity paid for by American producers', not reciprocity.
Landon said in the same speech he was 'opposed to a policy of isolation' and pledged 'to do all in our power' to revive foreign trade by other means.
Statements (4)
We will repeal the present Reciprocal Trade Agreement Law. It is futile and dangerous. Its effect on agriculture and industry has been destructive. Its continuation would work to the detriment of the wage earner and the farmer.
We condemn the secret negotiations of reciprocal trade treaties without public hearing or legislative approval.
Pledging repeal of the present reciprocal trade program, with a return of treaty-making powers to the Senate and tariff making powers to Congress, Gov ernor Alfred M. Landon today car ried his presidential campaign into Wisconsin after charging the Roosevelt foreign trade policies had "sold the American farmer down the river.''
"Eight of these agreements have been in force long enough for us to see the results. The im ports of farm products have in creased 84 per cent over a corre sponding previous period.
Follow-through
not_applicable
The Act was extended in 1937 and 1940 over Republican opposition; the Senate's treaty role was not restored.
Other positions on this issue
- Continue the reciprocal trade agreements to lower barriers against American exports — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 specific_pledge
1936-landon-repeal-reciprocal-trade-agreements · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed