Trade Issues - Democrats

 Hillary Clinton

• Her spokesman, Philippe Reines, said she opposed extending fast track authority for President Bush, and opposes the free trade agreement with South Korea.  Reines says Clinton favors “smart trade,” meaning pacts containing environmental and labor protections. (The Buffalo News, July 16, 2007)

• Sen. Clinton has supported some trade pacts that the AFL-CIO opposed. In 2006, Clinton voted for a trade deal with Oman (as did Obama); in 2003, she voted to implement trade pacts with Singapore and Chile... Clinton did side with the AFL-CIO — and with Biden, Dodd and Obama — in her 2005 vote against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).  (CQPolitics.com, June 27, 2007)

• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told a hall packed with about 700 labor union members she won't support a free-trade deal with South Korea… "Trade worked well for America for most of the 20th century, but we are in a different environment now," Clinton said. "You can't just keep doing the same thing that we did before. We've got to be, as I say, smarter. Because my primary obligation as a United States senator, and then later as president, is to look out for America. That's my job. My job is to try to support all of you because I don't want to lose the American dream."  (Gannett News Service, June 10, 2007)

• "I support what I call smart trade. Free trade versus fair trade is not descriptive. Trade is, in general, good for America. All during the 20th century, we were advantaged by being involved in the free-trade agreements in the world. Unfortunately, those trade agreements became less fair to many American workers because the concept of free trade didn't keep up with the changing global economy. What I'm trying to get people thinking about, rather than having this stale debate - free trade versus fair trade - is, 'What is it we want from trade?' Number one, we want trade to give us export markets for goods we produce in the United States. If we open our markets, then people have to open theirs. No more hidden barriers and pretend agreements. It has to be reciprocal. Number two, we know that if we don't have some sort of labor and environmental standards, we're going to be disadvantaged. … Look at what's happening with the imports from China. We have no way of knowing what they're putting into food, for humans or for pets."  (Spartanburg Herald Journal, May 11, 2007)

Barack Obama

• Obama supports the idea of simplifying international trade, and he warned the union crowd that "we're not going to stop globalization in its tracks." But he spoke out against trade agreements that make it easier for other countries to do business in the United States but not for U.S. companies to do business overseas.  He called for updating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada to guarantee workers have the right to organize and that they get training for new jobs when their old ones are eliminated. (Associated Press, October 6, 2007)

• [Obama Op-ed] If a post-Fidel government begins opening Cuba to democratic change, the United States (the president working with Congress) is prepared to take steps to normalize relations and ease the embargo that has governed relations between our countries for the last five decades. That message coming from my administration in bilateral talks would be the best means of promoting Cuban freedom. (Miami Herald, August 21, 2007)

• On trade policy, he would strengthen enforcement of trade agreements to better protect U.S. farmers from high tariffs and other unfair practices… He joked about how little he understood farm issues when he was elected to represent his Chicago neighborhood in the Illinois Legislature.  (Mason City (IA) Globe-Gazette, Iowa, July 28, 2007)

• John Edwards and Barack Obama have both denounced NAFTA and called for its renegotiation. None of the three supported moves to extend the president's “fast-track” trade negotiation authority, which expired last month. (The Economist, July 19, 2007)

• He does not talk much about economics. He wants to spend more money on lots of things: schools, health-care subsidies, veterans' benefits and so on. He thinks globalization is inevitable, but he does not sound very happy about it. His support for free trade is tepid. He favors trade deals only if foreigners agree to a host of labor and environmental standards and if American workers who lose their jobs are well looked after. He voted for a trade deal with Oman, but against one with Central America. (Economist, June 14, 2007)