Is Bernie's Trade Policy More Extreme Then Trump's? Yes.

[OrwellwasRight]

19. I didn't throw up a link to say so and so vouches for him.

I threw up a link to explain why the TPP was bad pro-corporate, anti-worker policy. The problem is that you expect trade policy to be simple like "tariffs bad." Well, it's not, and if you took the time to read anything about trade deeper than "tariffs bad" you'd know this and understand why links are necessary.

Yes, China overproduces steel and prices it predatorily, so yes, confronting China on steel was a good thing to do. Most Dems and many Republicans agree with Trump on that. And Canada is our closest trading partner and ally, so no you don't tariff them even though the US imports more Chinese steel through Canada than it does directly from China. So what do you do? Before you implement your tariffs, you get Canada (and the EU and Japan by the way) to implement the same outward facing tariffs on China (and a few other steel over producers, btw, including Korea, Vietnam and Turkey), so we are all acting in a coordinated fashion and reducing the leakage of Chinese steel going through intermediaries.

How do I reconcile Bernie's trade plans with Trump's? I don't. Why should I? Bernies plans are progressive and Trump's are xenophobic. They are aren't reconcilable. Bernie's plans are about taking our trade agreements out of the hands on corporations. About stopping the practice of using them to limit financial services regulations and food safety standards. About turning labor and environmental fluff into meaningful rules that aren't just theoretically enforceable but actually enforced. It is about taking globalization back from a tool to oppress workers globally into a tool that ensures that workers globally can join together to stand up and fight for better wages and benefits.

The fallacy is that trade agreements are about reducing tariffs. They mostly aren't. Tariffs are miniscule worldwide and there is not much growth left to be gained by further reducing them. Even Krugman says this. Try reading a trade deal -- any one. 9https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements_ You'll see they are mostly about telling governments how they must and how they cannot regulate. And the vast majority of these rules are not about instituting human rights minimums, they are about locking in corporate privilege for Wall Street, Big Pharma, Big Ag and, now, with the new NAFTA, Big Tech.

If you want to understand more, I suggest reading more. You can't master complex trade policy with a two sentence DU post. Here's a place to start.

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/WM/WM04/20190326/109127/HHRG-116-WM04-Wstate-DrakeC-20190326.pdf