Though many of the candidates claim to be in favor of free trade, their rhetoric and voting records vary. Photo Credit: Flickr

The presidential campaign unfolded during a period of major tests to US free trade policy. With the surge in the US trade deficit to China, the growing practice of outsourcing jobs to countries like India, and deep concerns about the fallout in US manufacturing towns, free trade is the subject of increasing skepticism.

During President Bush's time in office, the Doha round of global trade talks foundered. But Congress approved several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) between the United States and smaller countries including, Oman, Chile, and Singapore. It also narrowly approved the Central America Free Trade Agreement. Deals with Panama and South Korea are also in the works. Though many of the candidates claim to be in favor of free trade, their rhetoric and voting records vary. Issues of fair trade, enforcement of labor standards, and trade policy towards African and Latin American economies will likely remain in the forefront of legislative debate as the presidential campaigns pick up steam.

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Democratic Candidates on Trade



Joseph R. Biden

Sen. Biden (D-DE) in general espouses free trade policies but has been a recent critic of Bush administration bilateral and regional agreements on opening markets. He voted against the creation of FTAs with Oman in 2006 and with Singapore and Chile in 2003. He also voted against the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2005. All of those bills were passed in the Senate. Biden criticized CAFTA, as well as the Singapore and Chile bilateral deals because, he said, they lacked effective provisions to ensure enforcement of labor and environmental standards.

Senator Joseph Biden (Democrat-Delaware) has been a recent critic of Bush administration bilateral and regional agreements on opening markets.

Biden also voted against the Trade Act of 2002, which reauthorized the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), granting certain trade benefits to Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In 1999, Biden voted in favor of the Africa Free Trade bill, which authorized a "new trade and investment policy for sub-Sahara Africa" and the granting of trade benefits to Caribbean countries. Through that bill, the US tied trade benefits for sub-Saharan African countries to those countries' free market and democratic policies. Biden also voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993.



Hillary Clinton

In general a supporter of free trade, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) voted in support of the creation of FTAs with Chile, Singapore, and Oman. But like Biden, she criticized the FTAs with Chile and Singapore for what she said was their weak enforcement of International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. She said "the labor provisions in the Chile and Singapore agreements should not be used as a model for future trade agreements." Clinton voted against CAFTA and the Trade Act of 2002. In 2004, Clinton voted for the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, which she said "offers greater access to Australian markets for US manufacturers."

Most recently, Clinton spoke out against the pending FTA with South Korea, which she called "inherently unfair," particularly for the US auto industry.



Christopher J. Dodd

A self-described "free trader," Sen. Dodd (D-CT) nonetheless expressed mixed feelings on the negative effects of free trade in a speech on the CAFTA-DR Act of 2005. He voted against that act, citing the problems presented by globalization for countries like Nicaragua and Guatemala where poverty remains widespread. "With CAFTA-DR, we are stepping backwards in a region of the world that needs a commitment to lift up the quality of life for its citizens," he said.

Dodd also voted against FTAs with Chile, Singapore and Oman, and against the Trade Act of 2002. He voted in favor of the Africa Free Trade bill of 2002 and NAFTA.



John Edwards

Senator John Edwards (Democrat-North Carolina) has been increasingly critical of free trade policies, arguing that they have diminished protections for labor and the environment.

Sen. Edwards (D-NC) has been increasingly critical of free trade policies, arguing that they have diminished protections for labor and the environment. Most recently, Edwards criticized the Bush administration's push for a trade agreement with South Korea. Edwards said in a February 2007 statement that "Bush should shut down all trade negotiations with South Korea until they prove their willingness to open their market to American automobiles and other US products and agree to trade fairly." As a senator, Edwards voted against the implementation of the FTA with Chile in 2003, and against the Africa Free Trade bill in 1999. But he voted in favor of the US-China Relations Act in 2000. Edwards has also criticized NAFTA, although he was not in Senate at the time of its passage in 1993.



Mike Gravel

Gravel has called NAFTA "a disaster for the working class of both the US and Mexico" and has said that it should be either changed significantly or repealed altogether. Gravel has called for an increased focus on fair trade "if we are to rebuild the American middle class."



Dennis Kucinich

Rep. Kucinich (D-OH) has been one of the most adamant congressional critics of free trade, saying it is responsible for lost jobs in the United States and abusive working conditions abroad. He voted against the creation of FTAs with Oman, Singapore, and Chile, and against the Trade Act of 2002. He also voted against the CAFTA Implementation Bill in 2005, saying that "trade agreements are seeking cheaper labor where they can go to countries where the labor is cheap, but they are not selling American goods there. So we are seeing that we are not finding new markets for our goods; yet, we are finding markets for cheap labor. That is what these trade agreements do."

Kucinich voted in favor of a 2005 House resolution proposing US withdrawal from the WTO. That resolution failed. He also voted against the Africa Free Trade bill. Kucinich has generally voted against any bills that extend normal trade relations treatment to China. He voted against the US-China Relations Act of 2002, which authorized the extension of normalized trade relations between the US and China, as long as China agreed to join the World Trade Organization.



Barack Obama

Senator Barack Obama (Democrat-Illinois) has expressed concern about the tendency of free trade agreements to negatively affect labor and environmental protections.

Sen. Obama (D-IL) generally supports free trade policies, though like many of his fellow Democratic candidates, he has expressed concern about the tendency of free trade agreements to negatively affect labor and environmental protections. Obama voted to approve the 2006 FTA with Oman. He opposed CAFTA, however, explaining in 2005, "It does less to protect labor than previous trade agreements, and does little to address enforcement of basic environmental standards in the Central American countries and the Dominican Republic."



Bill Richardson

Gov. Richardson (D-NM) has called himself a "free trader" (Albuquerque Journal), though he has called for increased enforcement of labor standards and environmental protection in free trade agreements. As US ambassador to the UN, Richardson praised free trade and the International Monetary Fund. He has particularly promoted free trade between the US and Latin America, and was a leading voice in the push to create NAFTA in 1993. In a 1998 speech, Richardson called for legislation toward "creating a hemispheric-wide free trade agreement that will establish a $12 trillion market of 850 million people. This free trade zone will create jobs, open new markets and raise living standards from Ecuador to East Los Angeles."

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Republican Candidates on Immigration



Sam Brownback

The pro-trade Club for Growth calls Sen. Brownback (R-KS) "one of the most consistent supporters of free trade in the US Senate," but criticizes his support for a cap on foreign wheat gluten products and for the tariff on imported ethanol. Brownback voted for the FTAs with Oman, Chile, and Singapore. He also voted for CAFTA, an act which he said would likely help various industries in his state of Kansas. In 2004, he voted in favor of the US-Australian Trade Act. Brownback voted for normal trade relations with China in 2000.



John H. Cox

On Cox's campaign website, he says, "I support free but fair trade policies. As the world's largest economy, we must exercise our tremendous economic power to force our trading partners to open their markets to our goods and services."



Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani's economic advisor has said that Giuliani supports free trade "but also wants to make sure countries such as China are playing fair."

Little is known about Giuliani's stance on trade. His endorsement by Steve Forbes, a prominent voice for free trade, may be indicative of Giuliani's position. Giuliani's economic advisor, Stanford University's Michael Boskin, has said Giuliani supports free trade "but also wants to make sure countries such as China are playing fair," according to an April 2007 report in the Business Journal of Phoenix.



Mike Huckabee

The Club for Growth calls Gov. Huckabee's (R-AK) record on trade, including his support for free trade with Mexico and his forging of a trade pact between a South Korea trade group and his home state of Arkansas, "limited, but positive." Huckabee has expressed concern that free trade can lead to unfair loss of American jobs, saying in April 2007 that "If somebody in the presidency doesn't begin to understand that we can't have free trade if it's not fair trade, we're going to continually see people who have worked for 20 and 30 years for companies one day walk in and get the pink slip and told ‘I'm sorry but everything you spent your life working for is no longer here.'"



Duncan Hunter

Rep. Hunter (R-CA) has been characterized as a free trade sceptic, especially with regard to agreements with China. He opposed the creation of FTAs with Chile and Singapore, but voted in favor of the agreement with Oman in 2006. Hunter voted against both NAFTA and CAFTA, and has said that both trade agreements were "bad deals" that he would "junk" if elected president. Hunter has opposed legislative efforts to extend normal trade relations to China—he voted in favor of House resolutions expressing disapproval of granting such status to China on several occasions.



John McCain

Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona) sees trade as a means to open "closed societies" in the Middle East.

Sen. McCain (R-AZ), a free trade advocate, sees trade as especially important as a means to open "closed societies" in the Middle East. "It's past time for nations of the Middle East to join the global economy, and for rulers to lead increasingly restive populations in the direction of democracy and free markets," he said in 2003. McCain supported Bush's plan to build a free trade area in the Middle East by 2013.

McCain has been a consistent supporter of free trade legislation, achieving a top rating by the pro-trade Cato Institute. He voted in favor of free trade acts with Oman, Australia, Chile, and Singapore. He also voted to approve both NAFTA and CAFTA.



Ron Paul

Rep. Paul (R-TX), who sits on the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology, voted against free trade agreements with Oman, Chile, and Singapore. He was a strong critic of CAFTA, of which he said "I believe in free trade, but this is not free trade. This is regulated, managed trade for the benefit of special interests." In 2005, Paul supported legislation that would have withdrawn US approval for the World Trade Organization. On his campaign website, Paul criticizes the WTO, which, he says, "has forced Congress to change our laws, yet we still face trade wars." He has also been critical of NAFTA, which he says "is just one part of a plan to erase the borders between the US and Mexico."



Mitt Romney

Gov. Romney (R-MA) is pro-free trade (MSNBC). He is against protectionism, which, he said at a campaign speech in February 2007, "would virtually guarantee that America would become a second-tier economy in a couple of decades, with a second-class standard of living." Romney has also expressed support for trade with China.



Tom Tancredo

Rep. Tancredo (R-CO) is a free trade skeptic, largely because of its potential effect on immigration to the United States. He was an outspoken opponent of CAFTA, which he said is "more than a just trade agreement about sugar and bananas; it is a thinly disguised immigration accord." He was opposed to the creation of FTAs with Oman, Chile, and Singapore. Tancredo voted in favor of the 2005 House resolution proposing US withdrawal from the WTO, as well as a similar 2000 resolution.



Tommy Thompson

As governor of Wisconsin, Thompson served as the chairman of the National Governor's Association Committee on International Trade and Foreign Relations. In 1991, he wrote an article for Business America urging his fellow governors to play a larger role in international trade.




Compiled by Joanna Klonsky for CFR.org. Reprinted with permission from the Council on Foreign Relations.

To read another Global Envision article US trade policy, see Trading on America's Future.



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