Neo-Confederate Corey Stewart has been ranting and raving recently, including at last weekend’s U.S. Senate debate, about how horrible international trade agreements are. For instance, according to Stewart at the debate, Danville has been decimated by trade deals, and more broadly, he claims that “we’ve lost 5 million manufacturing manufacturing jobs in this country under the trade agreements that Senator Kaine is for…President Trump is doing the right thing to pry open foreign markets.” That is not even remotely true, of course; see the Financial Times, which explains that “according to a study by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University, 85 per cent of these jobs losses are actually attributable to technological change — largely automation — rather than international trade.” For someone who claims to be an expert on international trade, you’d think that Corey Stewart would understand that basic fact. But nope.
By the way, Danville’s Vice Mayor responded to Corey’s idiocy by tweeting, “Disappointing that Corey Stewart is using @BreitbartNews talking points about #DanvilleVA in his #VaSen debate today. We’d be happy to show you, or anyone, the great work that is being done here by many ppl. We’re a great city. Not a talking point.”
Meanwhile, check out the type of international trade work Corey Stewart has done over the years, specifically:
- Stewart advised clients on NAFTA and other free trade agreements: “Preferential Duty Programs. Stewart PLLC advises clients on the use of preferential duty programs (e.g., the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and other free trade agreements) and the steps that must be taken to satisfy CBP’s requirements for making preferential duty claims under these programs.”
- “Minimizing Exposure. Stewart PLLC provides guidance to clients when violations of U.S. import laws and regulations have occurred and developing strategies for minimizing potential penalty exposure and taking corrective actions, including conducting internal audits; developing compliance improvement programs; preparing and submitting prior disclosures to CBP; and representing clients in audit, seizure, enforcement, and penalty proceedings before CBP.”
- And last but not least, Corey helped companies use “connections and relationships” to help them avoid trouble for their trade-related “regulatory violations”: “Even the best connections and relationships cannot undo regulatory violations, but having open communication with regulators can go a long way to ensure your interests are well represented, and to resolve misunderstandings before they are allowed to progress too far.”
In sum, Corey Stewart is a massive hypocrite who should not to be taken seriously by anyone. I encourage journalists to ask him about his hypocrisy, as well as about his work as an inside-the-Beltway international trade attorney — and specifically how much $$$ he’s made off of helping companies game trade agreements like NAFTA and get around regulatory violations (which quite possibly harmed U.S. workers).
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
