Kasich: ‘We Want to Have Free Trade, But Fair Trade’

KASICH: "I grew up in a blue collar family. The simple fact of the matter is, of course, we're sensitive about trade. 1 out of 5 Americans work in a job connected to trade. 38 million Americans are connected to it. But my position has always been we want to have free trade, but fair trade. And I've been arguing all along that it is absolutely critical that when other countries break those agreements, we don't turn the process over to some international bureaucrat who comes back a couple years later and says, oh, America was right and people are out of work. The fact of the matter is we have to have an expedited process. When people cheat, when countries cheat and they take advantage of us, we need to blow the whistle. And as president of the united States, I absolutely will blow the whistle and begin to stand up for the American worker. We don't want to lock the doors and pull down the blinds and leave the world because, frankly, if we do that, prices will go up. People will buy less. Other people will be out of work. And we don't want to see that happen. Trade, though, has to be balanced, and we have to make sure that when we see a violation like some country, dumping their products into this country, believe me, as president, I will stand up and I will shut down those imports because they are a violation of the agreement we have. And the American worker expects us to stand up."