Democratic presidential candidates like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton & John Edwards reject free trade deals threatening human rights, the environment or American workers

Republicans see Colombian trade as an important stepping stone for South American stability and U.S. credibility in emerging Latin American economies. Thus Colombian free trade remains at the top of George W. Bush’s wish list for 2008.

In general, Republican presidential candidates back free trade principally from a business perspective.

Most Democrat presidential hopefuls also insist that free trade contracts include clauses that enforce equitable global labour standards, American access to trading partner markets and environmental safeguards.

Below is a brief summary of Democratic candidate positions on free trade.

Barack Obama

The senator from Illinois opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2005, pointing to inadequate provisions for labour standards and environmental protection. This past August, Obama said that as president he’d meet with Canadian and Mexican leaders to clean up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In general, Senator Obama favours free trade agreements that are pro-labour and pro-environment. In 2006, Obama voted for the free trade agreement with Oman.

Bill Richardson

Back in 1993, New Mexican Governor Bill Richardson led the drive to create NAFTA. Richardson is a strong proponent of free trade between America and Latin American countries.

Christopher Dodd

Connecticut Senator Dodd voted against the CAFTA-DR Act of 2005, pointing to globalization problems that poorer nations like Guatemala and Nicaragua face. Dodd also opposed free trade agreements with Chile, Oman and Singapore.

Dennis Kucinich

Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich is a strong critic of free trade, citing lost jobs in the U.S. and abusive international working conditions. In 2005, Kucinich used his vote against CAFTA to rail against free trade agreements with countries where labour is cheap but no American goods are sold. Kucinich also rejected trade accords with Chile, Oman, Singapore and more recently, Peru. The Ohio Democrat generally votes against any legislation that would extend normal trade relations with China, and has voted for America to leave the World Trade Organization.

Hillary Clinton

New York Senator Clinton voted against CAFTA and the Trade Act of 2002. Clinton has also criticized the pending free trade agreement with South Korea, which she called unfair to the U.S. auto industry in particular. Senator Clinton is sceptical of free trade accords with Colombia and Panama, yet voted for the agreement with Peru that passed this past November. While Hilary supported free trade pacts with Chile, Oman and Singapore, she later regretted weak international labour standards in the Chilean and Singaporean agreements.

John Edwards

Senator John Edwards from North Carolina criticized Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for supporting free trade with Peru. Arguing for increased labour and environmental protections, Edwards opposes free trade deals with Colombia and Panama. Like Hilary Clinton, Edwards wants South Korea to open its markets to U.S. products before he’ll support free trade with that nation. Edwards voted for the U.S.-China Relations Act in 2000, but against the free trade agreement with Chile in 2003 and the African Free Trade bill four years earlier.

Joseph Biden, Jr.

The Senator from Delaware voted for NAFTA in 1993 and the Africa Free Trade Bill in 1999. More recently, Biden voted against free trade agreements with Chile and Singapore as well as CAFTA due to inadequate provisions for labour and environmental standards. Biden also rejected the free trade deal with Oman.

Mike Gravel

Gravel asserts that NAFTA is unfair to the working class in both the U.S. and Mexico, and must be renegotiated. The Democrat focuses on fair trade deals that benefit America’s workers.

References

This article presents independent insights based on the analysis The Candidates on Trade (December 4, 2007) as described on the site Council on Foreign Relations - A Nonpartisan Resource for Information and Analysis.