US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said if elected he would crack down on the unfair trade practices of "cheaters like China" and would work to open new market for American goods.

"I want trade that works for America. That means we're going to open up new markets for our goods in Latin America and other places, and we're going to crack down on cheaters like China when they play on an unfair basis," Romney said on Monday during a campaign event in Manchester in New Hampshire.

Romney in his campaign speech was highly critical of the Afghan policy of US President Barack Obama. "With regards to Afghanistan, I will do everything in my power to transition from our military to their military as soon as possible, bring our men and women home and do so in a way consistent with our mission, which is to keep Afghanistan from being overrun by a new entity that would allow Afghanistan to be a launching point for terror again like it was on 9/11," he said in response to a question from the audience.

"As opposed to having a president who thinks that government creates our economy and allows it to grow, I understand that it's free people and freedom that drive our economy, I'm going to do five things when I'm in Washington with Paul Ryan, five things we're going to do that are going to get this economy jump-started again," he said speaking on his vision to revive the economy of the country.

"We are going to take advantage of our energy resources, our coal, our oil, our gas, our renewables, even nuclear. Number one, energy. We got a lot of energy. Low-cost natural gas is going to bring manufacturing jobs back and, by the way, keep our utility bills down," he said. "I'm going to make sure that our schools are second to none. We need our kids to have the skills to succeed," he added.

Observing that he wants to champion small business, he said, he wants to make it easier for entrepreneurs and innovators.

"I want the small businesses you work in to find it easier to hold on to capital so they can grow their enterprise. The President wants to raise taxes on small business," Romney said.