Free Trade - A tough issue for both sides, but harder for the left. They have to deal with the Unions, who would love to shut the borders. As I said the other day, everybody believes in Free Trade when they are buying, but not when they are selling.
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September 23, 2003
Kerry Attacks Rival Dean Over Protectionism
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER - NEW YORK TIMES
Ratcheting up his attacks on his Democratic presidential rivals, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts yesterday accused former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont of playing on the fears of workers and supporting protectionist trade policies that "would send our economy into a tailspin."
Speaking in Detroit, Mr. Kerry said that Dr. Dean and Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, who have staked out traditional pro-labor positions on trade, were pandering to unions and advocating a "retreat from the global economy."
But Mr. Kerry saved his harshest words for Dr. Dean, aiming at what has been a main thrust of his opponent's appeal to core Democratic voters, tapping into a wellspring of rage at the Bush administration.
"Anger and attacks are all well and good," Mr. Kerry said. "But when it comes to our jobs, we need a president who can build a barn, and not just kick it down."
"Governor Dean has said repeatedly that America should not trade with countries that haven't reached our own environmental and labor standards," Mr. Kerry told the Detroit Economic Club. "I will assure strong labor and environmental standards. But his approach would mean we couldn't sell a single car anywhere in the developing world."
Mr. Kerry's speech illuminated a quandary facing the Democratic hopefuls on trade: how to attack the president for losses in manufacturing employment, given that many of those positions have been lost to trading partners, without abandoning the Clinton administration's support for open markets.
Mr. Kerry's solution, it seems, was to rail against President Bush for failing to enforce the trade standards on the books, much as opponents of gun-control laws say they prefer to enforce existing laws.
Mr. Kerry promised to open export markets in Japan and China and to require competitor nations to lower tariffs along with the United States.
"Given this administration's inaction, American manufacturers can be excused for feeling like economic roadkill," he said, accusing the president of "sitting on his hands" as America is abused by its trading partners. "How many jobs do we have to lose until this administration stops waiting?"
On a larger scale, what is playing out in the pre-primary debate is a struggle for the future of the party on a hot-button issue, said C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics.
"What this all amounts to is trying to carry the party back to the Clinton-D.L.C. position on trade, which is for open markets," Mr. Bergsten said, referring to the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group.
"Clinton said to me 10 times if he said it once, one of his biggest disappointments in office was his failure to convince his own party to support globalization and expansion of trade.
"I think what Kerry is enunciating is that position versus the more traditional, skeptical, negative position associated with the A.F.L.-C.I.O."
It is unclear, though, how well Mr. Kerry's argument will sell to Democrats, particularly in states with early primaries like New Hampshire and South Carolina, which have had huge manufacturing losses, as has Michigan, the Dean campaign noted.
"It's clear that Senator Kerry doesn't have a grasp of Michigan and the devastation of the job loss that it's had to experience," a spokesman for Dr. Dean in Michigan, Daren Berringer, said. "We've got to deal with countries where there's an even playing field. If not, we're just encouraging jobs to be sent to other countries."
Erik Smith, a spokesman for Mr. Gephardt, said there was "one clear difference" between him and Mr. Kerry. "Congressman Gephardt," Mr. Smith said, "knows the difference between a good trade treaty and a bad trade treaty. Kerry has been a knee-jerk supporter for any free-trade treaty that comes down the pike, although recently he hasn't sounded like that on the stump."
He said Mr. Kerry seemed to adopt Mr. Gephardt's message on trade until fairly recently, perhaps hoping to eat away at Mr. Gephardt's support from labor unions. "He's been unable to do that," Mr. Smith said, "so now he's going back to where he's more comfortable."
nytimes.com |
