Bernie Sanders has staked out the clearest position on trade so far. Like Trump, the Vermont senator has harnessed a wave of discontent about job losses by linking them to free-trade pacts. Now Sanders is working to highlight key differences with the president, including calling on Trump to scrap a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, which he says does not do enough to protect U.S. workers.
In late April, Sanders outlined a trade platform that called on Trump and all the Democratic presidential contenders to pledge to renegotiate trade deals to prevent outsourcing of U.S. jobs. He also called on them to back labeling China a currency manipulator, an action the Trump administration has refused to take.
Sanders also pushed for an executive order barring federal contracts to companies that outsource jobs, a promise not to appoint trade representatives from Wall Street and a repeal of the 2017 GOP tax cuts that he says reward companies for moving factories to other countries.
“We need a president who will actually fight for American workers, keep their promises, and stand up to the giant corporations who close down plants to send jobs overseas,” Sanders said in a statement in April.
Trade Advocates
The issue is particularly difficult for Democrats because of the evolution in the party over the past few decades — from staunch opponents of free trade to the architects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Hillary Clinton’s flip-flop on the TPP, which she advocated as secretary of state and then ultimately came out against during the 2016 primary after pressure from Sanders, illustrates the fault lines Democrats must navigate in the 2020 primary contest.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner, will likely have to defend his record, which includes his support for the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993 and the TPP. Sanders opposed both agreements.
On Monday, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates assailed Trump’s trade policies but offered few specifics. The candidate, he said, would roll out his "vision for a progressive trade policy" over "the course of this campaign."
Democratic strategists say Trump’s handling of the trade issue has given candidates an opportunity to focus the conversation more on his policies than on the possible alternatives.