Biden likely to steer new course on trade

Policies would favor workers’ skills over enforcement

It may not take long for President-elect Joe Biden to distinguish his trade policy from his predecessor’s “America First” approach.

When members of the World Trade Organization meet in Geneva to agree on a new chief, probably within a few weeks of Inauguration Day, Biden could drop the Trump administration’s veto of the consensus candidate, former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and allow her to become the first woman to head the global trade body.

Accepting the wellrespected official favored by almost all other U.S. trading partners would mark a sharp break from President Donald Trump’s go-it-alone stance and begin reshaping international economic policy after years of tariff threats and trade wars.

Biden hasn’t said publicly whether he will endorse Okonjo-Iweala, a naturalized U.S. citizen. And a spokesman for his transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

But whatever he decides about the WTO leadership, Biden’s handling of trade policy is expected to represent a departure from that of Trump and past Democratic presidents alike.

The Wall Street-friendly push for trade liberalization that held sway for a quarter century after the Cold War has been rendered obsolete by domestic political developments, supply-chain security concerns triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and growing alarm about China’s rise.

“We need to do things differently,” said Cathy Feingold, director of the AFL-CIO’s international department. “You can’t go back.”

Biden and his advisers have sketched a trade policy that echoes Trump’s focus on manufacturing jobs and seeks to use foreign economic engagement to promote the U.S. middle class.

But unlike Trump, Biden describes most foreign nations as potential partners, not adversaries bent on unfairly competing for commercial spoils.

The Democrat is likely to substitute industrial policy for tariffs, seeking to revive domestic factories with a $400 billion “Buy America” initiative and $300 billion in clean energy research.

Katherine Tai, the top trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee and Biden’s choice as chief U.S. trade negotiator, called last summer for bolstering U.S. competitiveness and workers’ skills rather than concentrating on tariffs and enforcement efforts.