Donald Trump, who has made his criticism of a pending Pacific trade agreement central to his campaign, visited a Seattle suburb home to a large Boeing Co plane manufacturing facility that depends heavily on Asian sales.
Trump vowed at his rally that he would win Washington state, even though the state tends to support Democrats and Hillary leads by large margins in opinion polls.
The Republican nominee, however, presents a conundrum for the unions that represent workers at Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company. He vows to tear up trade agreements and scrap the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) point to Boeing's aircraft sales to Asia.
Manufacturing union officials said they find his track record unconvincing.
"Trump had the opportunity to bring jobs to Americans, and he's chosen to outsource them," said Larry Brown, legislative and political director for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents about 32,000 workers, mostly at Boeing.
Boeing produces planes only miles from where Trump spoke. As they are assembled, the painted tails of the planes show the airlines that ordered them, and many are Asian.
Over the next 20 years, Boeing projects that Asian customers will account for 40 percent of the total global jetliner's market, the company said.
"Trade is a huge part of the success of manufacturing in Washington," said Linda Dempsey, vice president of international economic affairs for the National Association of Manufacturers, which Boeing belongs to. "They are exporting $73 billion in manufactured goods."
Tony Fratto, a former official in the administration of Republican George W. Bush, criticized Trump as out of step with the party.
"Trump's policies in this area are really dumb generally, but are particularly dumb for a major exporting company," said Fratto.
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