WASHINGTON -- As the U.S.trade representative, Katherine Tai is legally required to avoid discussing the presidential election.
But her ideas about fair trade are on the ballot in November.Voters are essentially being asked to decide whether it is best to work with the rest of the world or threaten it.Do they favor pursuing worker protections in trade talks, as Tai has done on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration? Or should the United States jack up taxes on almost everything it imports as Donald Trump has pledged to do?After nearly four years in her job, Tai feels she is making progress on getting the U.S.
and its trade partners to focus more on workers’ rights.Decades of trade deals often prioritized keeping costs low by finding cheap labor that could, in some cases, be exploited.
“You can’t do trade policy by yourself,” Tai said in an interview with The Associated Press.“I am confident that the path that we are on is the right path to be on.
I think the only question is how much progress we are able to make in these next years.”It is an approach that has drawn criticism from business leaders, economists and Republicans who say that the U.S.has not made enough progress on new trade partnerships and countering China's rise.
“There have been no trade deals, no talks to expand free trade agreements,” Rep.Carol Miller, R-W.Va., said in an April congressional hearing with Tai.
“Compared to China’s ambitious agenda, the United States is falling behind in every region in the world.”Trump says that broad tariffs of at least 20% on all imports -– and possibly even higher on some products from China and Mexico -– would bring back American factory jobs.Most economists say they would hurt economic growth and raise inflation, though the former president has dismissed those concerns.“If you’re a foreign country and you don’t make your product here, then you will have to pay a tariff, a fairly substantial one, which will go into our tr...