gThird Way Statement on the Trade Question in Last Night’s Democratic Debate

Let’s invite facts into this debate—modern trade deals work.

WASHINGTON — Third Way Vice President for the Economic Program Gabriel Horwitz issued the following statement on the trade question in last night's Democratic Debate:

If you want “fair trade which works for the middle class,” as Senator Bernie Sanders claimed to want last night, then look at the data.

The United States has signed trade deals with 17 countries in the 21st century and, in the aggregate, they have improved our balance in the blue collar goods sector by nearly $34 billion on an average annual basis. In those 17 countries, we have gone from an average yearly deficit of $2.8 billion in the goods sector to a $30.9 billion surplus. Our exports to these 17 countries jumped 52% while our imports increased by only 26%. And that doesn’t include our balance in the service sector where the U.S. is the undisputed champion.

Senator Sanders may not like trade deals, but if they are improving our trade balance by tens of billions of dollars as modern trade deals have done, there is no disputing that they work for the middle class.