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Kamala Harris on Free Trade

Democratic candidate for President (withdrawn); California Senator

 


Trump policies resulted in highest-ever trade deficit ever

Q: Do you believe Americans can afford higher prices because of tariffs?

TRUMP: They aren't gonna have higher prices what's gonna have and who's gonna have higher prices is China and all of the countries that have been ripping us off for years. I charge, I was the only president ever China was paying us hundreds of billions of dollars and so were other countries and you know if she doesn't like 'em they should have gone out and they should have immediately cut the tariffs but those tariffs are there three and a half years now under their administration.

HARRIS: Well, let's be clear that the Trump administration resulted in a trade deficit, one of the highest we've ever seen in the history of America. He invited trade wars, you wanna talk about his deal with China what he ended up doing is under Donald Trump's presidency he ended up selling American chips to China to help them improve and modernize their military.

Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia , Sep 10, 2024

Stand up to China's unfair practices to protect US workers

Vice President Harris will make sure that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership. She will invest in the competitive advantages that make America the strongest nation on Earth--American workers, innovation, and industry--and will work to ensure America remains a leader in the industries of the future, from semiconductors to clean energy to artificial intelligence. She has stood up to China's unfair economic practices to protect American workers, businesses, and families. And she has advanced our economic cooperation around the world, from rallying international leaders at an AI summit in the UK, to convening semiconductor business leaders in East Asia, to spurring private investment across Africa.
Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website KamalaHarris.com , Sep 9, 2024

Secure domestic supply chains for semiconductor chips

Semiconductors are the brain of modern technology. While they are no larger than a fingernail, they are essential to every electronic device that we currently use. We are announcing we will award approximately $1.5 billion to expand domestic production of semiconductors, strengthen U.S. supply chains, and create thousands of good paying jobs right here in America.

While in Singapore in August 2021, I convened CEOs and government leaders to make progress on global supply chain challenges [and] I met with an executive from GlobalFoundries, and they committed to working with our administration to secure domestic supply chains. GlobalFoundries will expand existing operations in both New York and Vermont, creating more than 10,000 good jobs over the next decade. Additionally, the domestic production of these chips will provide more supply chain stability to the auto and aerospace industries across the United States that currently rely on the shipment of these chips from overseas.

Source: White House Vice Presidential 2024 press release: "CHIPS" , Feb 19, 2024

Export American products, not American jobs

Q: How would your trade policy differ from President Obama's?

HARRIS: My trade policy, under a Harris administration, is always going to be about saying, we need to export American products, not American jobs. And to do that, we have to have a meaningful trade policy. I am not a protectionist Democrat. 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.

Q: What about China?

HARRIS: It's a complicated relationship. We have to hold China accountable. They steal our products, including our intellectual property. They dump substandard products into our economy. They need to be held accountable. We also need to partner with China on climate and the crisis that that presents. We need to partner with China on the issue of North Korea.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston , Sep 12, 2019

Trump's tariffs are a trade tax on workers and farmers

Donald Trump came in making a whole lot of promises to working people that he did not keep. Farmers are now looking at bankruptcy. Auto workers we expect perhaps hundreds of thousands will be out of jobs by the end of the year. Because of this so called trade policy that has been nothing more than the Trump trade tax that has resulted in American families spending as much as $1.4 billion more on everything from shampoo to washing machines.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit) , Jul 31, 2019

Demand changes to post-NAFTA agreement USMCA

Harris on NAFTA/USMCA: Demand changes to USMCA.

15 CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Joe Biden; Cory Booker; Pete Buttigieg; Julian Castro; Bill de Blasio; Kirsten Gillibrand; John Hickenlooper; Jay Inslee; Amy Klobuchar; Beto O`Rourke; Tim Ryan; Bernard Sanders; Eric Swalwell; Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson.

The majority of Democratic candidates want changes made to the agreement before it comes up for a vote in Congress, focusing on labor & environmental standards.

Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues" , Jul 17, 2019

Don't use tariffs to pressure countries

Kamala Harrison Tariffs: Don't use tariffs to pressure countries.

FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Joseph Biden, Jr.; Steve Bullock; Peter Buttigieg; Kirsten Gillibrand; Beto O`Rourke.

The majority of Democrats have broadly slammed Trump's use of tariffs. Candidates such as Sens. Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand have criticized the president's move to impose tariffs on China and U.S. allies, arguing they hurt American consumers, workers and companies.

Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues" , Jul 17, 2019

Trade agreements should address climate change

I would not have voted for NAFTA, and because I believe that we can do a better job to protect American workers. I also believe that we need to do a better job in terms of thinking about the priorities that should be more apparent now perhaps than they were, which are issues like the climate crisis, and what we need to do to build into these trade agreements.
Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls , May 12, 2019

Opposed TPP for invalidating California environmental laws

Harris opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, though for different reasons than Trump did. During the 2016 election, she argued that its adoption meant "invalidating California's landmark climate change and environmental laws." She also argued that the agreement wasn't transparent.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 candidates , Feb 11, 2019

Consumers hurt by trade wars, while corporations benefit

What is the state of our union? What is that higher purpose we're called to? And how must our leaders respond?

We need our leaders to speak the truth that we have an economy where the cost of health care, housing, and education are going up, but paychecks aren't growing fast enough to keep up.

When you hear claims about how the economy is doing great, don't forget the working and middle-class families who are struggling, the teachers who are working two and three jobs--all while this Administration gives away a trillion dollars to big corporations.

When you hear claims about rewriting rules and cutting red tape, don't forget that means workers will have fewer workplace safety protections. And remember that those rules are being rewritten to help big corporations and powerful interests.

When you hear claims about how America is stronger in the world--don't forget the farmers and consumers hurt by this Administration's trade wars.

Source: Democratic prebuttal to the 2019 State of the Union speech , Feb 5, 2019

TPP doesn't offer sufficient worker protections

Kamala Harris told reporters that she opposed the TPP trade pact because it didn't offer sufficient worker protections. Loretta Sanchez tends to present herself as an economic moderate. But she did Ms. Harris one better. Not only did Rep. Sanchez reiterate her opposition to TPP, but she also joined a protest line of union carpenters outside the convention center, in full view of television cameras, reporters and delegates.

Ms. Harris had previously been circumspect on the trade deal, but Rep. Sanchez's entry into the race has created a situation in which neither candidate wants to risk alienating the Democratic base on such a highly charged issue. If there were any doubt that both candidates had made the politically safe decision, they were quickly put to rest by the rapturous response that Sen. Elizabeth Warren elicited when she told the crowd that TPP would "leave American workers in the dirt."

Source: Wall Street Journal on 2016 California Senate race , May 19, 2016

Oppose USMCA until more environmental & job protections.

Harris voted NAY USMCA Implementation Act

Summary from Congressional Record and Wikipedia:Vote to amend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and establish the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Rather than a wholly new agreement, it has been characterized as `NAFTA 2.0`; final terms were negotiated on September 30, 2018 by each country. The agreement is scheduled to come into effect on July 1, 2020.

Case for voting YES by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL); (Dec. 19, 2019)The USMCA includes stronger protections for American workers and enforceable labor standards, as well as environmental protections. It eliminates the Trump Administration`s threat that the US could walk away entirely from the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, which would devastate US jobs and our economy.

Case for voting NO by Jared Huffman (D-CA); (Dec. 19, 2019) Democratic negotiators did a lot to improve Donald Trump`s weak trade deal, especially in terms of labor standards and enforcement, but the final deal did not reach the high standard that I had hoped for. The NAFTA renegotiations were a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lift labor and environmental standards across the continent--to lock in serious climate commitments with two of our largest trading partners and dramatically improve labor standards and enforcement to slow the rise of outsourcing.

Legislative outcome: Bill Passed (Senate) (89-10-1) - Jan. 16, 2020; bill Passed (House) (385-41-5) - Dec. 19, 2019; signed at the G20 Summit simultaneously by President Trump, Mexican President Enrique Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nov. 30, 2018

Source: Congressional vote 19-HR5430 on Dec 19, 2019

Other candidates on Free Trade: Kamala Harris on other issues:
2024 Republican Presidential Candidates:
Former Pres.Donald Trump (R nominee)
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (VP nominee)
Ryan Binkley (R-TX)
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND)
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
Larry Elder (R-CA;withdrew)
Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC)
Rep. Will Hurd (R-FL;withdrew)
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR)
Perry Johnson (R-IL)
Mayor Steve Laffey (R-RI)
Former V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN;withdrew)
Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
Secy. Corey Stapleton (R-MT)
Mayor Francis Suarez (R-FL;withdrew)

2024 Democratic and 3rd-party primary candidates:
V.P.Kamala Harris (D nominee)
MN Gov Tim Walz (VP nominee)
Pres. Joe Biden (D-DE,retiring)
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (I-NY)
Chase Oliver (L-GA)
Rep.Dean Phillips (D-MN)
Jill Stein (Green)
Cornel West (Green Party)
Kanye West (Birthday Party)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
Abortion
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Civil Rights
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Crime
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Education
Energy/Oil
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Foreign Policy
Free Trade
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Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty

External Links about Kamala Harris:
Wikipedia
Ballotpedia





Page last updated: Sep 16, 2024; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org