Joe Biden is in San Diego this afternoon expected to defend the Obama administration record on international trade. According to abided the White House has helped American businesses export more of their products to other countries. Trade is worth billions of dollars. The administration is helping Congress will approve a sweeping trade deal with a dozen Pacific rim countries. Earlier I spoke with Nikia Clarke . That group works to increase exports from San Diego businesses. Welcome to the program. Think you for having me. You'll be at that speech later today. Wide you think he chose to give it here at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal? I think it is no surprise that the location he chose was handed a. It is a big economic engine but also a big Navy port. I think this administration has a pretty aggressive record on trade. A lot of that argument has been both around trade as sort of a economic opportunity maker, but also global trade as an issue of national security. I think selecting the poor of Senegal makes sense for the vice president or go How important is trade to San Diego businesses? It is incredibly important and becoming increasingly important since the recession San Diego has worked pretty hard to reorient the economy towards global markets to make the economy more resilient. So companies in San Diego the more the export, the better that is for this region. Certainly, here in San Diego we already trade pretty extensively across the Pacific and that will continue to be really important set of markets for us. So in terms of geography mattering for international trade, that is another reason why San Diego and California is really well positioned for the trade. Which industries are the big exporters here in San Diego? We have several very globally competitive industries. One thing is important to realize is that we are very innovation-based economy. Our exports from San Diego though always look like the things that you see put on ships at the port and sent across the ocean of the we have those also but a lot of the exports are things like data or intellectual property, digital platforms, and things like that matter very much for San Diego companies. For example, we have five times the concentration is I think research and development in Sunday go. That is a 21 billion-dollar industry for San Diego. Large-scale legislation like TPP that begins to set norms governing those types of goods and services matter a lot for San Diego. You brought up the elephant in the room TPP the transpacific partnership. Can you tell us what that is ? The TPP is ambitious international trade deal negotiated by the Obama Administration and 11 other countries on the Pacific rim. Certainly candida, US, Mexico and some in South America and many in Asia. The goal of the TPP is to lower barriers for US exporters of goods in the markets and services. Also to really set the norm and the rules of the game for international trade and an increasingly digital world. That you feel trade has changed significantly since NAFTA was negotiated years ago. Opposition to the deal comes from both Clinton and Trump. Via both the trade in the spotlight of this presidential campaign. Do you find it unusual for a topic like international trade to be getting so much attention the season? In some ways. I think that international trade and free trade deals tend to become politicized around election times. I think that is anything new. I think there are several things that are very unusual about the campaign this year and perhaps the fact that both candidates have come out against TPP is certainly one of them. However, I think that the Obama administration and certainly the vice president's visit today are looking to make the case that international trade matters for the American economy and not just for exporters and businesses. Also in terms of leading the way and setting the rules of the game for the future of international trade. Biden will be talking about trading -- trade enforcement and looking to demonstrate the US ability to enforce trade policy globally. That of course, has economic peace to wait and national security peace within the context of what is happening in Asia. How would you assess the administration's trade record? Have they been aggressive on trade? I would say so. I think that they have made -- both international trade and foreign direct investment key pillars of their economic plans. If you look at the 2012 interagency trade enforcement center that the Obama administration had set up 2015 trade facilitation act all of those things have moved to enhance the environment for American firms overseas. I think it is with said that in a lot of the discussion on TPP what gets lost is the US market is already much more open to foreign imports then those of most foreign markets are to US imports. Right now without TPP it is much easier for foreign company to import to United States that it is for an American exporter to access a TPP market. A lot of this trade legislation free-trade agreements, the push that the Obama Administration has made has a lot to do with trying to level the playing field for American exporters and make things fair in overseas markets. I think there been very clear about that. I have been speaking with Nikia Clarke. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that an enforcement action filed by the U.S. against China at the World Trade Organization will benefit Qualcomm, the San Diego-based manufacturer of mobile device chips, and DJO Global, which makes medical devices in Vista.
Biden, discussing trade enforcement in an appearance at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, said China places export duties on raw materials imported by U.S. companies, making them more expensive. In turn, the products made by the affected companies have higher prices compared to Chinese competitors.
"In the action we're taking today, we're aiming to change that," Biden said.
"Here in San Diego alone — let me tell you what I mean — Qualcomm, when we win, is going to pay less for Chinese tin than it pays now and no more than any Chinese company because Qualcomm makes semiconductors," Biden said. "We'll reduce the costs of them making those semiconductors and make them more competitive, not only in this market against Chinese companies, but worldwide."
He said lower prices for cobalt will help DJO Global.
Raw materials specified in the U.S. trade complaint, besides tin, are antimony, cobalt, copper, graphite, lead, magnesia, talc and tantalum.
It's the 13th WTO complaint filed by the U.S. against China. Biden, in his speech, said America has won each enforcement action.
"All we want is a level playing field," Biden said.
According to Biden's office, the Obama administration has brought more trade enforcement cases at the WTO since 2009 than any other member, removing trade barriers and increasing export opportunities worth billions of dollars to American workers, farmers, and businesses.
The administration has issued more than 300 antidumping and countervailing duty orders, launched the first labor rights case under a free trade agreement, and signed into law bipartisan customs legislation that provides additional tools and bolsters resources for trade enforcement efforts, according to Biden's office.
The administration launched 62 trade investigation last year and will continue to be aggressive in trade enforcement, Biden said.
Trade has emerged as a major issue in the presidential campaign, with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump taking a protectionist stance by blasting the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.
Likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton supports free trade in general and has backed NAFTA, which was signed into law in 1993 by her husband, Bill Clinton. She initially supported the TPP negotiations but said she opposes the final product.
"Trade matters — this is a global economy," Biden said.
"Not all the effects of globalization are good, but what Americans have always done is they've always bent reality to the benefit of Americans and American workers," he said. "Every new industrial change in the world — we have adapted."
He praised officials with the Port of San Diego, which he said generates $8 billion in economic activity.
