#FlashbackFriday: One Week After Missing NAFTA Deadline, Cramer Still Silent

The trade deal is important for North Dakota’s farmers, energy producers, and manufacturers. So why is Kevin Cramer so silent?

 

(BISMARCK, ND) — It’s been a week since Speaker Paul Ryan’s deadline for NAFTA renegotiations has come and gone. Now many North Dakotans are asking: Where was Kevin Cramer?

It’s no secret that Cramer has trouble leading. From his months of claiming farmers were being “hysterical” over trade policy to his mealy-mouthed walk back during a U.S. Trade Representatives hearing last week – Cramer’s had trouble explaining his inability to put North Dakota industries ahead of his own political ambitions.

Now we’re seeing more chickens come home to roost for these misguided trade policies. While the talks have been derailed and farmers, manufacturers, and energy producers across the state are left to wonder if there will be markets for their products, Kevin Cramer continues to bury his head in the sand on trade.

“Kevin Cramer’s silence on NAFTA is bad for agriculture, manufacturing, energy productions, and the thousands of people those industries employ across North Dakota,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “It’s another example of Cramer choosing to put his own interests in front of working families whose livelihoods depend on free trade. He’s tried to run out the clock on the NAFTA deadline, but workers and producers will continue to ask: Where were you?”