Policy Prescriptions Trump and Clinton on global trade
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump wants to blow up the way the United States does business with the rest of the world.
Hillary Clinton repudiates an ambitious Asia-Pacific trade deal she once praised and vows to appoint a special prosecutor to keep U.S. trading partners in line.
American trade policy is taking a bipartisan beating this election year, reflecting voters’ deep skepticism over the benefits of open trade with China and other countries at a time of sluggish economic growth and stagnant incomes.
The hostility is jeopardizing a mainstay of U.S. policy: Since World War II, the United States has championed free trade as a way to promote global peace and prosperity. It has coaxed countries like China to join the World Trade Organization and other institutions and to sign trade agreements that bind them to a code of conduct in the global marketplace.