Did you know that Senators John McCain and Barack Obama view the issue of trade in markedly different ways?

Senator McCain has a record of supporting free trade agreements in Congress, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He also supports renewal of the Trade Promotion Authority, which would give the president the ability to fast-track passage of future agreements. Senator McCain also supports limiting domestic agricultural subsidies to achieve success under the multilateral trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization's Doha agreement.

Senator Obama believes that trade agreements can be beneficial, but he argues that recent agreements have not been adequately enforced. Some, like NAFTA, he believes may need to be reviewed. He opposed CAFTA but supports using trade agreements that benefit American workers and have adequate environmental and labor standards. Senator Obama supports continuing the WTO negotiations, but he has not proposed reducing domestic agricultural subsidies to achieve agreement.

Look for more election news online at www.dairycounts.org and in future issues of News Update.