Dems’ trade plans borrow page from Trump’s talk

Proposals include renegotiating NAFTA, strengthening ‘buy America’ policies

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats offered a new set of trade policies Wednesday aimed at appealing to working-class voters and regaining advantage on an issue that President Donald Trump seized to great effect during last year’s campaign.

Some of the Democratic proposals sounded like talking points straight from Trump, including renegotiating a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, and strengthening “buy America” policies.

Despite Trump’s rhetoric on those issues, he’s taken limited steps as president, although he did formally pull the United States from a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact that Congress probably would not have approved anyway.

The Trump administration is also considering ways to punish China for forcing U.S. companies to share their technology in return for access to the vast Chinese market.

“The problem is President Trump has talked a good game and done virtually nothing on trade but study it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said at a news conference with fellow Democratic senators from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, all up for re-election next year in manufacturing-dependent states that Trump won.

“So we need action and if President Trump wants to work with us to get these things done, good, because we need a better deal for American workers.”

Trade had been seen as an area where Trump and congressional Democrats could work together because Trump is more aligned with Democrats on the issue than with the traditional GOP free-trade approach. But such cooperation has not materialized as it’s become apparent that Trump and Democrats are unlikely to work together, except where strictly necessary.

The trade policies Democrats announced Wednesday were the second rollout in their new “Better Deal” agenda, which House and Senate Democrats are proposing ahead of the 2018 elections. Last week, Democrats presented their overall agenda and made public the first three planks, which focused on creating more jobs, cracking down on corporate monopolies and lowering prescription drug prices.

On trade, Democrats proposed an American Jobs Security Council to review and potentially halt foreign purchases of U.S. companies.