CPA’s Take: When Kamala Harris was running for president, this is what she said about trade.
Democratic candidate for President; California Senator
[December 15, 2019 | On the Issues]
Export American products, not American jobs
Q: How would your trade policy differ from President Obama’s?
HARRIS: My trade policy, under a Harris administration, is always going to be about saying, we need to export American products, not American jobs. And to do that, we have to have a meaningful trade policy. I am not a protectionist Democrat. Look, we need to sell our stuff. And that means we need to sell it to people overseas. That means we need trade policies that allow that to happen.
Q: What about China?
HARRIS: It’s a complicated relationship. We have to hold China accountable. They steal our products, including our intellectual property. They dump substandard products into our economy. They need to be held accountable. We also need to partner with China on climate and the crisis that that presents. We need to partner with China on the issue of North Korea.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston , Sep 12, 2019
Trump’s tariffs are a trade tax on workers and farmers
Donald Trump came in making a whole lot of promises to working people that he did not keep. Farmers are now looking at bankruptcy. Auto workers we expect perhaps hundreds of thousands will be out of jobs by the end of the year. Because of this so called trade policy that has been nothing more than the Trump trade tax that has resulted in American families spending as much as $1.4 billion more on everything from shampoo to washing machines.Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit) , Jul 31, 2019
Demand changes to post-NAFTA agreement USMCA
Harris on NAFTA/USMCA: Demand changes to USMCA.
15 CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Joe Biden; Cory Booker; Pete Buttigieg; Julian Castro; Bill de Blasio; Kirsten Gillibrand; John Hickenlooper; Jay Inslee; Amy Klobuchar; Beto O`Rourke; Tim Ryan; Bernard Sanders; Eric Swalwell; Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson.
The majority of Democratic candidates want changes made to the agreement before it comes up for a vote in Congress, focusing on labor & environmental standards.
Source: Politico “2020Dems on the Issues” , Jul 17, 2019
Don’t use tariffs to pressure countries
Kamala Harrison Tariffs: Don’t use tariffs to pressure countries.
FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Joseph Biden, Jr.; Steve Bullock; Peter Buttigieg; Kirsten Gillibrand; Beto O`Rourke.
The majority of Democrats have broadly slammed Trump’s use of tariffs. Candidates such as Sens. Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand have criticized the president’s move to impose tariffs on China and U.S. allies, arguing they hurt American consumers, workers and companies.
Source: Politico “2020Dems on the Issues” , Jul 17, 2019
Trade agreements should address climate change
I would not have voted for NAFTA, and because I believe that we can do a better job to protect American workers. I also believe that we need to do a better job in terms of thinking about the priorities that should be more apparent now perhaps than they were, which are issues like the climate crisis, and what we need to do to build into these trade agreements.Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls , May 12, 2019
Opposed TPP for invalidating California environmental laws
Harris opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, though for different reasons than Trump did. During the 2016 election, she argued that its adoption meant “invalidating California’s landmark climate change and environmental laws.” She also argued that the agreement wasn’t transparent.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 candidates , Feb 11, 2019
Consumers hurt by trade wars, while corporations benefit
What is the state of our union? What is that higher purpose we’re called to? And how must our leaders respond?
We need our leaders to speak the truth that we have an economy where the cost of health care, housing, and education are going up, but paychecks aren’t growing fast enough to keep up.
When you hear claims about how the economy is doing great, don’t forget the working and middle-class families who are struggling, the teachers who are working two and three jobs–all while this Administration gives away a trillion dollars to big corporations.
When you hear claims about rewriting rules and cutting red tape, don’t forget that means workers will have fewer workplace safety protections. And remember that those rules are being rewritten to help big corporations and powerful interests.
When you hear claims about how America is stronger in the world–don’t forget the farmers and consumers hurt by this Administration’s trade wars.
Source: Democratic prebuttal to the 2019 State of the Union speech , Feb 5, 2019
TPP doesn’t offer sufficient worker protections
Kamala Harris told reporters that she opposed the TPP trade pact because it didn’t offer sufficient worker protections. Loretta Sanchez tends to present herself as an economic moderate. But she did Ms. Harris one better. Not only did Rep. Sanchez reiterate her opposition to TPP, but she also joined a protest line of union carpenters outside the convention center, in full view of television cameras, reporters and delegates.
Ms. Harris had previously been circumspect on the trade deal, but Rep. Sanchez’s entry into the race has created a situation in which neither candidate wants to risk alienating the Democratic base on such a highly charged issue. If there were any doubt that both candidates had made the politically safe decision, they were quickly put to rest by the rapturous response that Sen. Elizabeth Warren elicited when she told the crowd that TPP would “leave American workers in the dirt.”
Source: Wall Street Journal on 2016 California Senate race , May 19, 2016
