Mr McCain's attitude towards free trade
I find it hard to understand Mr McCain's attitude towards free trade.

McCAIN: I am a free trader. Let me give you another example of a free trade agreement that Sen. Obama opposes. Right now, goods and products that we send to Colombia, which is our largest agricultural importer of our products, because of previous agreements, their goods and products come into our country for free. So Sen. Obama opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The same country that’s helping us try to stop the flow of drugs into our country that’s killing young Americans. Free trade with Colombia is something that’s a no-brainer. But maybe you ought to travel down there and visit them and maybe you could understand it a lot better,

Source: 2008 third presidential debate against Barack Obama , Oct 15, 2008

Does it mean he is a free trader but he opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement?

Thanks a lot!

Question

Mr McCain's attitude towards free trade
I find it hard to understand Mr McCain's attitude towards free trade.

McCAIN: I am a free trader. Let me give you another example of a free trade agreement that Sen. Obama opposes. Right now, goods and products that we send to Colombia, which is our largest agricultural importer of our products, because of previous agreements, their goods and products come into our country for free. So Sen. Obama opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The same country that’s helping us try to stop the flow of drugs into our country that’s killing young Americans. Free trade with Colombia is something that’s a no-brainer. But maybe you ought to travel down there and visit them and maybe you could understand it a lot better,

Source: 2008 third presidential debate against Barack Obama , Oct 15, 2008

Does it mean he is a free trader but he opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement?

Thanks a lot!

Answer

Yeah, McCain is a strong supporter of free trade as well as the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. It is a no-brainer for him, it is to say, that it is too obvious to support the agreement as it gives a lot of benefits to the US economy and requires no thinking. He urges those opposing the agreement (like Obama) to first of all understand what the agreement actually holds.

Answer

McCain is asserting that his supports free trade while giving examples of our recent president Obama opposing the Columbia free trade.

Answer

Thanks a lot Ben! I misunderstood the meaning of "no-brainer".

Answer

As i understand the text, Mc Cain is very much for free trade, including free trade with Colombia. He is criticising Obama for opposing free trade Colombia and for not being a supporter of free trade in general.

Answers · 6

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