[CTC] Refresher on VP Pick Harris' Trade Views

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Morning Trade

REFRESHER ON VP PICK HARRIS’ TRADE VIEWS: Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that he has selected Sen. Kamala Harris <https://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca78894b813321070a693cd35b1d283b65907d0ce58111ddbc20aafaccf4809db2dabaf97e929e7f9815b231ad0464ed> (D-Calif.) as his vice-presidential running mate. Traditionally, the vice president doesn’t delve too deeply into trade policy, but Harris’ views on trade are well-documented after her own run to be the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential race. 

Morning Trade went back into the vault to see what she said about trade policy. Here are some highlights:

No to USMCA: Earlier this year, Harris was one of only 10 senators to vote against the replacement deal for NAFTA, which was the product of months of negotiations between House Democrats, AFL-CIO and the Trump administration.

“After careful study and consultation with environmental and conservation leaders, I have concluded that the USMCA’s environmental provisions are insufficient—and by not addressing climate change, the USMCA fails to meet the crises of this moment,” Harris said in a January statement announcing she was opposing the deal.

An eye on the environment: Harris also named labor and environmental concerns as prime reasons she wouldn’t support the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

“As I’ve long said, I will oppose any trade deal that doesn't look out for the best interests of American workers and raise environmental standards, and unfortunately the TPP didn’t pass either test,” she said in a statement <https://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca78894b813321078992315c5dad10dc7ca77daba1d2d59f7abc713ff55ec3e45a56bc7e3b40ec54e639451fc3ad379b> to the Council on Foreign Relations last year. 

Build a coalition approach: Harris, like Biden, has repeatedly agreed that the United States does have to address China’s unfair trading practices, but thinks the Trump administration’s approach is wrong. Her home state of California leads all other states in exports to China, although its shipments have fallen since the first year of the Trump administration.

“I would work with our allies in Europe and Asia to confront China on its troubling trade practices, not perpetuate Trump’s failing tariff war that is being paid for by hard-working Americans,” she said to CFR. 

She has directly called Trump’s tariffs a “tax” on the American people. In 2018, when Trump first slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods, Harris warned <https://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca78894b81332107152f60cfd70da39b9b0f3948616e81ce639b83dc5221cbe8e25f41cddceff5a8a8bbb596fcdb1be4> that the administration’s approach was “counterproductive” and would be harmful to California, which has the country’s largest consumer electronics sector.

Not a big Lighthizer fan: Harris is one of only 14 senators to vote against Robert Lighthizer’s nomination to be U.S. trade representative in 2017.

Her pitch: “I am not a protectionist Democrat,” Harris said at the third Democratic presidential debate in September 2019. “Look, we need to sell our stuff. And that means we need to sell it to people overseas. That means we need trade policies that allow that to happen.”



Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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