As Midterms Approach, Where Do Democrats Stand on Trade:In an Urban Texas District,Prominent Candidate Laura Moser Speaks In Favor of Trade Agreements (With More Attention to Workers, Environment-& Less to Entrenched Corporate Lobbies)

There's an enormous energy (and optimism) among Democrats, including many new congressional candidates, as we head toward the November midterm elections.  But little media attention has been paid to where the Democratic hopefuls stand on  trade policy. Some months ago a group of Senate Democrats including New York's Charles Schumer put together a trade platform premised on outdoing Donald Trump as a protectionist (I blogged on that here back last August).

In a recent candidates' debate in Houston, the Democratic primary finalists for multicultural urban District 07 were asked to address trade (you can listen at the last 10 minutes or so of the podcast). Laura Moser, a Texas-born and -bred writer and activist whose campaign has attracted national and international attention, set out a different Democratic vision than Schumer & company. Moser said she believes in trade agreements and while noting that NAFTA has hurt some Americans she freely admitted it's benefited others, including in her own region of the country. She even supports TPP, stressing the importance of an accord in the Pacific region, but criticizes the existing agreement as giving inadequate consideration to environment and labor laws, while important parts have been drafted to suit entrenched corporate interests. One can debate these criticisms of TPP as it stands (now a signed agreement minus the US)-I tend to agree with them. But it's refreshing to hear a progressive Democrat state clearly for the record that trade agreements are necessary for a globalized world, and that there is no answer for the economy or indeed for workers (Moser enjoys strong union support) in backing away from negotiated trade rules. At the same time, Moser takes stock of the challenge of China (she's no one's fool): "We do not want China to eat our lunch."

Moser's opponent Lizzie Fletcher seemed to stumble off her script when asked the trade question: she said that trade agreements are the only way to avoid other countries controlling what we import into the United States. While it is true that China's export controls on raw materials and rare earths have been a subject of WTO disputes, it seems very odd to focus on other countries' export restrictions rather than the limits they impose on access to their markets as a key reason we need trade agreements.

Disclosure: I have donated to Laura Moser's campaign.