Hillary Gets Tough on Free Trade

Speaking in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday Hillary Clinton called for tougher trade rules to protect and support the auto industry.

According to a close aide, Clinton will voice her support for higher “rules of origin” standards that would keep cars that are made of mostly foreign parts from enjoying the “Made in America” label. Manufacturers who get the “Made in America” label can import goods into the United States without paying taxes. Currently, the threshold for getting the label is 45 percent, meaning that slightly less than half of a car’s parts must be manufactured in the United States in order to get the label.

Her comments came at a boisterous rally at the M7 Technologies manufacturing plant, which makes precision measurement tools for the automotive and aerospace industries.

Clinton’s hard talk on trade comes as her main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders, attacked her past support for free trade deals. As Secretary of State, Hillary supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a mammoth trade agreement that would link the economies of twelve Pacific Rim countries. As a presidential candidate, Hillary changed her position in October, coming out publicly against the TPP in an interview with PBS in October last year.

With the Ohio caucus just days away, Hillary is trying to court the state’s many blue-collar workers in the hard-hit manufacturing sector. Other states where “free trade” is a curse like Wisconsin and Illinois also have upcoming caucuses. Illinois will decide between Clinton and Sanders on Tuesday, March 15, while Wisconsin goes to the polls on April 5.

Clinton’s unexpected loss in Michigan last Tuesday has made toughening her position on trade a priority. Analysts say that Sander’s win in Michigan highlights his strength with a core voting demographic: white, blue-collar workers, many of whose jobs have been displaced by free trade agreements like NAFTA.

Sanders wasted no time in criticizing Hillary’s tough talk on trade, reminding voters that Clinton described the TPP as the “gold standard” of trade agreements as Secretary of State.

Clinton fired back, reminding Rust Belt voters that Sanders voted against the auto industry bailout bill in 2008. Hillary’s call for stricter rules of origins underscores her opposition to the TPP in its present form, but she hasn’t said whether she would still oppose a renegotiated version. Sanders has made a point of stating that he would reject any version of the TPP, a hard line that plays well with blue-collar Democratic voters.

Of course, despite Clinton’s call for stricter rules of origin and Sander’s hard line, tinkering with the TPP is not likely to happen. Congress must either pass it in full or reject it outright. Any changes to the text of the TPP would have to be approved by the twelve other signatories, which could set back the negotiations by a few years, at least.

For the moment, Obama’s signature trade deal appears to have fallen victim to the Democratic presidential campaign. The TPP would eliminate most tariffs and other trade barriers between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the U.S, if it’s ever passed, which looks increasingly unlikely.