Can Biden Make Free Trade Attractive?
Believe it or not, I agree with the left that one of the main things that cost Sectary of State Hillary Clinton the 2016 election was her opinion on trade. I know that sounds weird considering I’m such a strong supporter of free trade, however, the mistake Clinton made is not the one most progressives think she did.
How often defend did Hillary Clinton defend NAFTA? Seriously ask yourself that question, the answer seems to be, despite the many people criticizing her actions on NAFTA, not all that often. In fact, even dating back to her 2008 Presidential Campaign, she promised to renegotiate NAFTA if elected President.
During the 2016 Republican National Convention, Donald Trump said Clinton “supported North American Free Trade Agreement, and she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization…. She supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea. She supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” In truth, she had turned against NAFTA years ago by that point, was critical of China entering the WTO, had turned against the TPP by that point, and no evidence exists that the South Korea trade deal mentioned was a “job killer.”
Do you know who did support NAFTA, and still does? The American people! According to You Gov, over half of all Americans who knew what NAFTA was said they felt it has been a benefit to the United States.
However, that is a worldview that was all but banned during the 2016 Presidential Election. Both candidate criticized NAFTA, and one smeared the other by saying she supported it.
Considering that, even with all this propaganda, most Americans agree with NAFTA, I have no doubt that if one candidate was to defend it, they would easily win.
The Corona Conundrum
Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak, so many articles have written calling this “the end to free trade/globalism” have been written that I could spend hours reading them and debunking them point by point — if only because that’s what my podcast is for.
But here’s a quick compilation of some of the bigger guys:
In retrospect, was it wise to have relied on China to produce essential parts for the supply chains of goods vital to our national security? Does it appear wise to have moved the production of pharmaceuticals and lifesaving drugs for heart disease, strokes and diabetes to China? Does it appear wise to have allowed China to develop a virtual monopoly on rare earth minerals crucial to the development of weapons for our defense? — Pat Buchanan
Obviously, a lot of consumers would happily pay more to know that something is made in the USA — or at least not in China. We’d like to support our fellow Americans. We also prefer products that don’t kill the family pet, instantly fall apart or risk being embargoed during a viral pandemic. — Ann Coulter
I lost my secure, well-paying manufacturing job to free trade with the People’s Republic of China, and all I got was this damn virus that killed Grandma — and shut down even the lousy, insecure service-industry gig the Chinese had left me. — Sohrab Ahmari
But anti-China political messaging and policies will not merely rally Trump’s red hat-clad MAGA base. Following this horrific ordeal, such a platform will also appeal to the median American. And it will allow the president to frame the election in a way that undermines media credibility and imperils the ChiComs’ favorite presidential contender: Biden. — Josh Hammer
(By the way, according to The Washington Post, Chinese President Xi Jinping actually wants Donald Trump to be President because he’s “easy to read.”)
You know, maybe I’d take these predictions just a little more seriously if every event wasn’t seen by these people as “the end of globalism.” Didn’t globalism end over three years ago when we elected Donald Trump? I guess not, considering this President renegotiated NAFTA to where the Canadian diary markets were actually more open then before.
For that matter, didn’t globalism end when Britain voted to leave the European Union? I guess not considering it took three years for the United Kingdom to get a nationalist Prime Minister in the form of Borris Johnson, who started his tenure with a free trade deal with the United States.
On that topic, you may have noticed one of the people I quoted was Pat Buchanan. Weren’t all three of his presidential campaigns supposed to be the end of globalism? In truth, the only things Pat Buchanan has ever ended were George Bush’s chances of getting re-elected and the Reform Party.
So why should I hang on the every word of the people who are always wrong? Going back to the Brexit example, that was seen as the beginning of the end of the European Union. One year later, two out of every three French voters showed up to support the establishment globalism Emmanuel Macron.
Will Americans back free trade after COVID-19? Maybe, but maybe not. As of writing this, the main two countries working on creating a COVID-19 vaccine are Germany and Israel, and I imagine most people aren’t going all that picky regarding where life saving medicine that ends a pandemic could be coming from. Regardless of what Senator Josh Hawley or Rep. Chip Roy are telling you, medicine is medicine regardless of where it’s made.
For that matter, even the protectionists seem to admit that free trade has some advantages. Remember the outrage when China “hoarded” PPE products the President gave them before he banned us from buying them back? The only way you could view this as a negative is if you believe in free trade, otherwise all it would be is China putting themselves first, which I thought was the main goal of nationalism!
Here’s another example, India recently said they are going to stop exporting Hydroxychloroquine, one of the chemicals Trump has been saying could be part of a cure for COVID-19. However, the only way you could be outraged by this is if you find globalism an appealing philosophy. Otherwise, not only would a true nationalist support India stopping exports, they’d also refuse to take in imports anyway.
In truth, globalism will win out. Nationalism is a short sided nonsensical philosophy that only gets popular in a handful of phases, but never stays around for a long period of time.
