Democratic Presidential Candidates Outline Trade Policy Views

(World Trade Interactive)

The Democratic candidates for president said in recently released statements that they support trade agreement provisions that enforce labor and environmental standards and that they would review and possibly renegotiate all existing U.S. trade pacts. The statements were released by the Iowa Fair Trade Campaign, a group of trade unions and other organizations, which requested the candidates’ views while they campaigned in Iowa for the Jan. 3 caucus. The candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, former Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson (Sens. Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd responded as well but have since dropped out of the race) were asked to address five general areas that affect trade: the fast track trade negotiating process; terms for future trade agreements; review or renegotiation of NAFTA and other existing agreements; Doha Round negotiations; and measures to address the trade deficit.

Following are highlights from their statements.

Fast Track
Clinton said she would not finalize any new trade agreements or seek trade promotion authority (‘fast track’) until her administration has reviewed all existing agreements and crafted a comprehensive trade policy. Edwards said the U.S. needs a new negotiating process that ensures ‘diverse public input,’ to include ‘non-commercial interests.’ Obama said the criteria for determining possible trade partners must involve an analysis of their labor and environmental standards. Obama also supports a stronger role for Congress in the trade agreement negotiation process.

Trade Agreement Provisions
All the candidates supported enforceable labor and environmental terms in trade agreements. Edwards and Obama were critical of provisions that allow foreign investors to directly challenge U.S. federal and local laws, and Obama said he would limit this right. To ensure the safety of imported foods and other products, Clinton said she would create a single agency to oversee food safety, support country of origin labeling and increase the number of U.S. inspectors at domestic and foreign ports. Edwards endorsed removing ‘unreasonable limitations’ in trade agreements related to border inspections and safety standards. Obama would support increased enforcement of current product safety laws and further assistance for the federal agencies that oversee these issues. Richardson would turn to the WTO for all members to agree on a ‘no-standards lowering clause.’ On government procurement, Edwards said he is willing to change existing agreements to ensure that any related clause supports rather than hurts domestic businesses. Richardson said he would promote labor and other human rights and stated that the U.S. should buy goods from companies that adhere to certain standards.

Review or Renegotiation of FTAs
The candidates generally said that if elected they would review NAFTA and other existing U.S. trade agreements. Obama and Clinton said they would work with NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada to renegotiate and correct ‘shortcomings’ in that agreement.

Doha Round
Edwards, the only candidate to respond to the question on the Doha Round negotiations, said generally that change is needed in current WTO proceedings, including the Doha Round, and that the U.S. should work with WTO trading partners to fix rules.

Trade Deficit Measures
To combat the U.S. trade deficit, Clinton, Edwards and Obama highlighted the need to eliminate currency manipulation, which they felt puts U.S. goods at a disadvantage. Both Clinton and Edwards said they would vigorously enforce current free trade agreements, while Clinton added that she would double the enforcement staff at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Edwards and Obama would eliminate ‘tax incentives’ that U.S. companies may have to invest overseas. Obama also said he would protect U.S. producers from dumping and predatory pricing and ‘demand equal access to markets abroad.’