It might be wishful thinking, but the hope is that American voters can look beyond personalities and sound bites in this year’s election. Policy preferences are important, and they will impact our way of life and our nation’s economy in the coming years.
Among the most important policies for Washington residents is the matter of international trade. Our state often is regarded as the nation’s most trade-dependent, with imports and exports fueling an economy that routinely ranks among the nation’s best.
Consider these facts: The largest private employers in Washington are Amazon and Boeing, which depend on global markets. Our state ranks high in agriculture exports, with apples, wheat, potatoes and other products in demand throughout the world. And our aerospace industry is the largest in the world.
On top of that, many products that are not grown or manufactured in Washington find their way to consumers through our ports and airports. As the Washington Council on International Trade writes: “With 96 percent of the world’s consumers living beyond the U.S. borders, for Washington state to truly thrive and leverage its powerful advantages, it must fully engage in the global economy.”
A recent report from the New York Times details how that engagement is imperiled. As reporter Peter S. Goodman writes: “In interviews with two dozen American manufacturers, retailers and shipping agents, many said they were holding off on investments and expansion given the uncertainty over tariffs on imported products and parts — especially on those shipped from China.”
China has the world’s second-largest economy, behind the United States. And in January 2018, then-President Donald Trump launched a trade war by imposing tariffs on more than $350 billion worth of products imported from China.
The point was to push back against what U.S. interests said were unfair trade practices – a worthy goal and a necessary one to protect American manufacturers. But the result was retaliatory tariffs by China that reduced the market for U.S. products, particularly agriculture.
Those costs were passed along to American consumers. An analysis by the right-leaning Tax Foundation found that Trump’s tariffs amounted to a significant tax increase for Americans.
President Joe Biden has shortsightedly neglected to remove the damaging tariffs.
And now, as Trump seeks to regain the presidency, he is doubling down on a policy that demonstrates little understanding of global markets.
Trump has threatened 60 percent tariffs on all goods from China. This would certainly lead to counter tariffs that effectively close foreign markets to American producers. That could be devastating to Washington; according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, China was our state’s biggest trading partner in 2023.
Meanwhile, the mere threat of such tariffs has an impact. As the New York Times writes: “Alarmed by the prospect of increased tariffs on Chinese goods if Donald Trump is elected, some American companies are stockpiling parts and delaying expansions.”
Kamala Harris and Democratic leaders have done little to assuage those concerns, with experts expecting trade tensions with China to continue regardless of who wins the presidential election.
Democrats should be quick to separate themselves from Trump’s fraudulent “America First” stance and promote policies that truly reflect the interests of U.S. consumers and producers – particularly those in Washington.
