Democratic Candidates Say Trump ‘Bungled’ Trade War

(Bloomberg) -- Democratic candidates tore into President Donald Trump’s tariffs in their debate Tuesday night, citing higher costs for consumers and the need for better trade deals.

The U.S.-China trade war, which began more than a year ago, has created uncertainty for many American businesses and been an undercurrent in the 2020 campaign. Companies have delayed investment decisions as they await a resolution to ongoing negotiations and the tensions have weighed particularly on the manufacturing sector.

While the economy grew at a 2.1% pace in the second quarter, robust consumer spending was undercut by the first drop in business investment since 2015 and falling exports. Tariffs on a wide variety of Chinese goods -- and counter-tariffs -- have also filtered through to some consumer product prices.

The Democratic debates took place as officials from the U.S. and China met in Shanghai this week for the first face-to-face trade talks since negotiations broke down in May. Earlier Tuesday, Trump renewed accusations that Beijing continues to “rip off” the U.S.

Democratic contenders for president at the debate in Detroit criticized the higher costs for Americans from tariffs and pivoted to the need for trade agreements that are fair for workers and better for the environment.

Here’s what a few of the candidates said, in answer to a question from CNN moderators about whether they would keep Trump’s steel levies in place:

• “Some of them are effective but he’s bungled the whole thing obviously,” said Ohio Representative Tim Ryan.
• “We can’t isolate ourselves from the world. We can’t isolate ourselves from Asia,” said former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, who supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Trump abandoned.
• “For decades we have had a trade policy that has been written by giant multinational corporations to help giant multinational corporations,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said. “If they can save a nickel by moving a job to Mexico, they’ll do it in a heartbeat.”
• Beto O’Rourke, a former U.S. Representative from Texas, called tariffs “a huge mistake,” saying: “They constitute the largest tax increase on the American consumer, hitting the middle class and the working poor especially hard.”
• “If anybody here thinks that corporate America gives one damn about the average American worker, you’re mistaken,” said Senator Bernie Sanders. “If they can save five cents by going to China, Mexico, or Vietnam or anyplace else, that’s exactly what they would do.”
• “Trade wars are for losers. You’re not going to win a trade war with China when they’ve got 25% of our debt,” said former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Washington at edmitrieva1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Margaret Collins, Michael Shepard

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