In a letter to the Trump administration, Baldwin, Peters and Slotkin call the effort “welcome and long overdue.”
Three Democratic senators last week sent President Donald Trump a letter calling his administration’s “comprehensive review of our nation’s trade policy” “welcome and long overdue.”
“Free trade and globalization have left us with offshored manufacturing, devastated communities, workers out of a job or in jobs with lower wages, and supply chains overly dependent on our adversaries in too many areas,” wrote Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). “Our states have suffered disproportionately, and we write to share policy solutions informed by that experience and to urge you to implement a pro-American worker trade policy.”
The Trump administration has received significant Democratic pushback for the tariff actions it has taken since it assumed office in January. Many have criticized their rollout, and others have criticized the concept of tariffs themselves. But not all Democrats talk about tariffs this way. “My colleagues have lampooned them as ‘irresponsible,’ ‘bad economics’ and purely a tax on consumers. This anti-tariff absolutism is a mistake,” wrote Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) in a March New York Times opinion. Another House Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), introduced legislation for a 10% universal import tariff in the last session of Congress and again in January – a measure not out of step with some of the administration’s later tariff proposals.
Now, just before President Trump announces “reciprocal” tariffs that will vary depending on the tariff and non-tariff barriers that other countries impose on U.S. exports, comes this letter from lawmakers in the upper chamber – providing more evidence of bipartisan support for an overhaul of U.S. trade policy that advantages domestic manufacturing and workers.
Here are some of the policy suggestions Baldwin, Peters and Slotkin put forward:
1. A “complete rethinking of our economic relationship” with China, including its permanent normal trade relations (PNTR).” By allowing China to join the World Trade Organization, the senators argue, the United States opted to treat China like a market economy when it helped it join the World Trade Organization. But “China’s non-market practices, rampant abuses of labor and human rights, and government-sponsored trade cheating” mean U.S. economic and trade policy regarding China must be revised. The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) has called for China’s PNTR to be reviewed and then suspended or revoked.
2. Reviews of the 14 free trade agreements the United States has with 20 countries, including the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The senators note the recently negotiated USMCA’s strong labor, but also note it contains weaknesses to address and loopholes to close.
3. Strengthened trade enforcement mechanisms. The letter points to bipartisan legislation like the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0, which would greatly improve existing anti-dumping/countervailing duty tools, and calls on closing the de minimis loophole, by which huge quantities of imports are allowed into the country, both duty- and inspection-free. “The ultimate goal of our trade enforcement mechanisms should not be to react to injury,” they write. “It must be to deter and prevent cheating in the first place.” AAM endorses the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0, and also calls for de minimis reform.
4. Increased support for workers who have lost jobs to trade. The trio calls specifically for the strengthening and reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) so that affected workers can access job training benefits and quickly return to the workforce. This is another AAM priority.
And as for tariffs, specifically? They’re an “important tool” when enacted in strategic and deliberate ways, they argue. “But the positive impact of tariffs and trade policy must be bolstered by a robust industrial policy to create and sustain good-paying jobs with efforts such as investments, Buy America requirements, tax incentives, and other programs like those included in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.”
You can read the senators’ full letter to President Trump here.