Trade Policy Priorities through the Eyes of Congressional Democrats
Featuring Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL); Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX); and James Bacchus, Former World Trade Organization Appellate Body Jurist; former U.S. Congressman; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute; moderated by Daniel Ikenson, (@dikenson), Director, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute.
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In substance if not style, the Trump administration’s protectionist trade policies have looked conspicuously like those espoused by congressional Democrats over the past 25 years. Now that Trump has laid bare the economic, social, and geopolitical folly of this approach, Democrats may be ready to begin returning to their pro‐trade roots and reembracing the ideas championed by statesmen such as Cordell Hull and other party forebearers who advanced trade and international cooperation under U.S. leadership during the depths of the Great Depression through the Cold War and beyond.
What are the Democrats’ wishes for U.S. trade policy? What obstacles do they foresee? Are they willing and able to remind Americans, once again, why being for trade is in their best interest and why being against trade is not?
Join us to hear thoughts from prominent congressional Democrats about
- reclaiming Congress’s constitutional authority over trade policy;
- repealing Trump’s unilateral tariffs;
- recommitting to multilateralism;
- recommitting to the rule of law in trade;
- supporting the modernization of the World Trade Organization;
- finding a coherent approach to dealing with China;
- supporting bilateral and regional trade‐liberalizing efforts; and
- promoting domestic actions that improve American competitiveness.
Additional Resources
- “Democrats and Trade 2021: A Pro‐Trade Policy for the Democratic Party,” by James Bacchus
- “A Pro‐Trade Policy for the Democratic Party,” by James Bacchus
- “Trade Policy under a Biden Administration: An Overview of the Issues and Some Practical Suggestions,” by Simon Lester
- “Biden’s Trade Policy Options Constrained by Domestic Politics and Geopolitics,” by Daniel J. Ikenson
- “President‐Elect Biden and the Freedom to Trade” featuring Daniel J. Ikenson and Simon Lester
- “The Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Are Failing Us on Trade,” by Daniel J. Ikenson
