Trade

Echo Trump’s Tough Talk, or Lift Tariffs? Democrats Clash Over Trade

Neither Obama nor any other Democrat is or has lately been a real free trader in the history Republican style.

He is a fair-trader, which means a free-trader with add-ons to protect the environment and workers and otherwise advance social and other liberal goals having nothing much to do with trade per se, and nothing at all to do with protecting American jobs.

The whole tariff thing, however, is true-blue protectionism, and so both stupid and harmful to those slated to go unprotected.

It was the subject of trade, which has become the centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s agenda, that most animated the candidates. 

They argued over whether to revisit Obama-era multilateralism or double down on Mr. Trump’s brand of economic isolationism, which has upended how both Republicans and Democrats think about international commerce.

The most striking example of the fissures came during a heated exchange between Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive from Massachusetts, and John Delaney, a moderate former congressman from Maryland, during an argument over what should be done about Mr. Trump’s steel tariffs.

“I’m the only one running for president who actually supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Mr. Delaney said, referring to the 12-nation trade pact that Mr. Trump abandoned upon taking office. 

“President Obama was right about that. We should be getting back in that.”

Deriding Ms. Warren as an isolationist on trade, he added: “We have to engage.”

Ms. Warren unveiled a trade plan this week that included a raft of strict preconditions on human rights and environmental standards that would be required for kicking off any negotiations with other countries. 

On Tuesday night, she vowed to sideline big corporations and make sure that unions, small farmers and environmentalists took priority in future trade talks.

. . . .

For good measure, Ms. Warren went on to assail Mr. Trump’s rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which she called Nafta 2.0, as a giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry that would lead to higher drug prices.

Not to be outdone, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said that he would stop giving military contracts to companies that did not employ American workers to manufacture their products.

“If anybody here thinks that corporate America gives one damn about the average American worker, you’re mistaken,” said Mr. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist. 

“If they can save 5 cents to Mexico or China or Vietnam, that’s what they’ll do.”

As can be easily seen, he really doesn't approve the way capitalism works. The way it essentially works.

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The more moderate Democrats were more cautious in their attacks on Mr. Trump’s stewardship of the economy, largely taking issue with sluggish income growth and what they called the unfairness of the tax code while criticizing his methods on trade.

For instance, when asked whether they would repeal Mr. Trump’s tariffs on steel imports, most of the 10 candidates hedged.

. . . .

Despite the strength of the economy, some economists argue that it has thrived in spite of Mr. Trump’s agenda. 

The trade tensions caused by his tariffs are widely acknowledged to have been a drag on economic growth. 

The federal budget deficit has increased an average of 15 percent for each fiscal year he has been in office.

Moreover, Mr. Trump’s handling of trade negotiations has called into question his deal-making prowess. 

The overhaul of Nafta is languishing in Congress, where it must be ratified. 

A new trade war with Europe is brewing over digital taxes. 

Negotiations with China, which resumed this week in Shanghai, appear to be making little progress.