How Beto O'Rourke Tackles China and Trade Agreements

The former representative, Beto O'Rourke, unveiled how he would end the trade war between the United States and China and tackle workers' rights and climate change in trade agreements.

O'Rourke, a long-time supporter of free trade, said President Donald Trump's tactic failed and hurt American families. O'Rourke calls on allies to reduce China's unfair trade practices.

What would the plan do?

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The former congressman announced that on the first day of his term, he would eliminate Trump's duties on Chinese goods worth more than $ 500 billion.

The proposal recognizes that "targeted tariffs are a tool that may sometimes be necessary, but they should not be used as a threat to carry out anti-immigrant programs or to cause more suffering to American businesses and workers".

The plan also aims to ensure that the US free trade agreements provide for high standards of labor and the environment. It aims to include the fundamental rights of the International Labor Organization, the provisions of the Paris Agreement on Climate and other protections in all transactions.

Mr. O. Rourke, who represented El Paso, said he would create an independent commission to detect violations of labor and environmental standards in order to speed up the way in which United States deal with these problems.

The House Democrats are currently studying the new North American trade pact and are particularly concerned about the possibility of enforcing the provisions of the Agreement on Labor and the Environment in light of Mexico's antitrust rights record.

O & # 39; Rourke also seeks to set up more enforcement mechanisms in developing countries. O & # 39; Rourke said that US and foreign governments would collaborate to inspect factories accused of poor working conditions.

His plan would allow the United States to eliminate preferential tariff treatment or block imports from facilities suspected of violating labor standards – a decision borrowed from a recent Sens proposal. Ron Wyden and Sherrod Brown to strengthen the implementation of the new NAFTA.

The World Trade Organization would play a major role in defending the United States against China and other competitors. In his plan, O'Rourke is committed to reorganizing the WTO to better combat currency manipulation, competition, overcapacity, industrial subsidies and other modern trade issues.

How would it work?

Mr. O. Rourke announced that he would begin "an aggressive WTO lawsuit with other countries against China, arguing that China has not respected the commitments". specificities it had taken upon accession to the WTO. If it does not work, he says that he will act unilaterally. put pressure on China.

O'Rourke would consider taking steps to make it more difficult for Chinese companies in the United States to restrict access to the US banking and financial system to companies that were stealing intellectual property from the United States. It would also potentially limit Chinese investment in certain US sectors.

The candidate would also tackle monetary manipulation after the Trump administration's decision in August to qualify China as a currency manipulator. Part of its plan would allow the "federal government to engage in defensive and counterbalanced monetary interventions in extreme cases" and reorganize the Treasury Department's currency report to focus on countries with significant trade surpluses with United States.

Part of this plan would be to invest in free community colleges, paid apprenticeships and other training programs to better train American workers and strengthen the competitiveness of the United States. It would also increase federal funding for programs that help small and medium-sized manufacturing companies compete in global markets.

What are the weaknesses of his proposal?

O & # 39; Rourke plans to ensure that the 164 WTO member countries reach a consensus to reform and modernize the global trade body. A particular challenge is resolving disagreements among various countries on how to change the WTO dispute settlement system. Although O & # rourke acknowledged the difficulty, he did not specify how he would solve it.

Since the Obama administration, the United States has blocked new appointments to the WTO Appellate Body because of longstanding problems with the dispute settlement system. The highest court of the WTO will cease to operate in December if no solution is found, because it will not have enough members to deal with new cases. (This would leave the WTO largely ineffective by the time O & # 39; Rourke takes office in 2021 when he is elected.)

Mr. O. Rourke's ability to change the way the United States negotiates trade agreements could also come up against some congressional resistance from Republicans opposed to more language on environmental standards in the agreements. And finding money to strengthen enforcement of trade rules has been a challenge.

What other democrats have proposed?

O'Rourke is one of the most powerful candidates for free trade, often recognizing the importance of trade given El Paso's proximity to its main US trading partner, Mexico.

He was one of the 28 Democrats in the House to have voted for the bill on the Trade Promotion Authority in 2015. This law allows Congress to vote on a trade agreement with a positive vote or negative without amendment if the president negotiating the pact follows certain requirements.

His proposal contrasts with a plan released by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Last July, which included some of Trump's protectionist rhetoric. Warren said that "tariffs are part of the overhaul of our global trade policy," but she criticized Trump for launching the tariffs via Twitter.

Warren's plan was seen as a more protectionist approach to trade, which would constitute a radical change in trade policy compared to earlier Democratic administrations such as those of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

His proposal includes specific criteria that a country should meet before negotiating a trade agreement with the United States. It is also a harsh criticism of multinational corporations and their influence on trade negotiations – an issue to which Mr. O. Rourke remains largely distant in his plan.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) previously said she would end Trump's tariff on China. The majority of candidates did not specify how they would manage the Beijing administration's tariffs once elected, but they widely criticized Trump's approach.