Tennessee can teach the guys running for president a thing or two about trade. At Tuesday's presidential debate at Hofstra University, President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney, in fits of economic populism, tried to to out-protectionist each other, promising to end outsourcing of American jobs. Watching from home, I screamed at the screen.

"I want to close loopholes that allow companies to deduct expenses when they move to China, that allow them to profit offshore and not have to get taxed, so they have tax advantages offshore," Obama said. Then, later, he bragged, "We've put unprecedented trade pressure on China. That's why exports have significantly increased under my presidency. That's going to help to create jobs here."

Romney populist pandering was no better. "I'll crack down on China..." Romney said. "I'm also going to dramatically expand trade in Latin America. It's been growing about 12 percent per year over a long period of time. I want to add more free-trade agreements so we'll have more trade."

Obama's boast about increasing exports is a convenient claim. From the nadir of the Great Recession in 2009, exports had nowhere to go but up and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's unending monetary stimulus has driven the dollar down, and a cheaper dollar means more exports because American stuff is less expensive to foreign buyers.

Romney skipped quickly over negotiating more free-trade agreements, a point on which he is absolutely correct and about which Obama has done absolutely nothing: the only trade agreements signed by Obama were already negotiated by President George W. Bush's administration and were only signed after Democrats tortured them brutally to protect a key Obama constituency, labor unions.

If either presidential candidate wants an antidote for outsourcing, they should look to Tennessee. Gov. Bill Haslam today announced Japanese automaker Nissan is expanding its operations in Smyrna, adding a third shift consisting of 810 workers.

"Nissan and Tennessee have enjoyed a long and successful partnership, and this announcement shows the strength of the company and the market demand for its products," Haslam said. "Nissan and our existing industries are very important to the state's economy and the citizens they employ, and I want to congratulate and thank Nissan on today's announcement and the new jobs it means for Tennessee."

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., was instrumental in opening Tennessee to trade with Japan when he served as governor from 1979 to 1987. Nissan opened its first plant in the Volunteer State in 1983. "This is more evidence that Nissan's arrival in Tennessee thirty years ago was the most important decision in recent history to help raise Tennessee family incomes," Alexander said. "Governor Haslam and Nissan workers deserve our thanks for providing an environment for creating good new jobs."

Tariffs and trade wars and currency skirmishes will never ever keep jobs from moving overseas or create more jobs at home. In the modern world, a world that is increasingly interconnected and economically integrated, the solution to our outsourcing problems is more trade, not trade restrictions.

Romney knows better than what he said at the debate. Obama probably doesn't. Regardless, Alexander led the way 30 years ago in building relationships in Japan that led to good manufacturing jobs coming to America. Haslam now gets to announce 810 more great jobs for Tennesseans.

In conjunction with the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, the Nissan expansion shows Tennessee, unlike the presidential candidates, gets that good jobs in the 21st century come from building good trading relationships all over the world, not by blustery rhetoric and bashing our biggest trading partners.

Follow me on Twitter @jgregjohnson.

Posted by Greg Johnson on October 19, 2012 at 10:44 PM |