Trade jitters, anti-China sentiment rouse US voters
By Andrea Hopkins
PITTSBURGH, Nov 14 (Reuters) - It could be expected that Iraq would play a big role in the 2008 U.S. election campaign. But if recent populist rallies are an indication, another country may be rousing even more anger from voters: China.
In all corners of an overflowing convention room this week in the industrial Rust-Belt city of Pittsburgh, voters, union officials and company executives alike railed against unfair trade -- and demanded U.S. politicians do something.
"Our government refuses to stand up to the Chinese and make a level playing field," John Ratzenberger, a U.S. television actor headlining the event, told about 800 factory workers and concerned voters, to applause.
The standing-room-only gathering was the fourth in a series of rallies in key U.S. states sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a nonprofit group whose partners include the United Steelworkers union.
Voters were given a list of questions to put to presidential candidates who might pass through the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania in the run-up to the November 2008 presidential election, including queries like: how will you "hold cheating countries like China accountable?"
Few in the audience seemed to need such prompting.
"China makes these inferior products but they have all our debt so they don't listen to us for one minute," said retired General Motors worker Bernadette Koval, 66, a Democrat.
More than 3.1 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost since Republican President George W. Bush took office, most in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio, where next year's presidential election could be decided.
While many key trade deals were signed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, voter sentiment on trade has soured in the seven years since Bush took over. A majority of Americans, including 60 percent of Republicans, now believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, according to recent NBC News-Wall Street Journal polls.
'TAINTED GOODS'
Safety concerns have helped stir anti-trade momentum, a development analysts said could boost the globalization issue to the top of voter agendas in 2008.
"The tainted goods issue is a factor," said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington. "A lot more people in the electorate are going to be looking for the government to step in and meet these challenges of globalization, not least of which is product safety. And that's going to cut across party lines."
"Just look at all the bad toys," said retired meat cutter Charles Hrelec, 80, referring to recalls of lead-contaminated and other unsafe toys from China in recent months.
Bernstein said popular opinion against both politicians and U.S. companies that outsource jobs overseas makes trade an issue that Democrats could capitalize on in 2008.
In the crowded hall, Republican Craig Tripp, 37, said he supports Democrat John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, due in large part to his stand against unfettered trade.
"Everything is falling apart," Tripp said. "There's no manufacturing here any more. We're paying $20 billion a month in trade from China -- that can't be sustained. We could be making those goods in the United States."
That the monthly trade imbalance with China -- it was actually $23.8 billion in September -- rolls off the tongue of a middle-class voter does not bode well for free-trade proponents and candidates from both parties have taken note.
Edwards has taken the most populist stand among Democratic front-runners, pledging to revisit unpopular trade deals and chastising rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois for voting to support a trade deal with Peru last week.
But Republicans, too, have taken up the mantra of "fair trade" rather than free trade and U.S. Steel Corp chief operating officer John Goodish said the issue is bipartisan.
"It's our job, together with the union, to make sure we keep manufacturing competitive," Goodish, a Republican, told the crowd. "It's the government's job to make sure we have a level playing field. They're not doing their job." (Editing by Lori Santos and Bill Trott)
PITTSBURGH, Nov 14 (Reuters) - It could be expected that Iraq would play a big role in the 2008 U.S. election campaign. But if recent populist rallies are an indication, another country may be rousing even more anger from voters: China.
In all corners of an overflowing convention room this week in the industrial Rust-Belt city of Pittsburgh, voters, union officials and company executives alike railed against unfair trade -- and demanded U.S. politicians do something.
"Our government refuses to stand up to the Chinese and make a level playing field," John Ratzenberger, a U.S. television actor headlining the event, told about 800 factory workers and concerned voters, to applause.
The standing-room-only gathering was the fourth in a series of rallies in key U.S. states sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a nonprofit group whose partners include the United Steelworkers union.
Voters were given a list of questions to put to presidential candidates who might pass through the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania in the run-up to the November 2008 presidential election, including queries like: how will you "hold cheating countries like China accountable?"
Few in the audience seemed to need such prompting.
"China makes these inferior products but they have all our debt so they don't listen to us for one minute," said retired General Motors worker Bernadette Koval, 66, a Democrat.
More than 3.1 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost since Republican President George W. Bush took office, most in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio, where next year's presidential election could be decided.
While many key trade deals were signed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, voter sentiment on trade has soured in the seven years since Bush took over. A majority of Americans, including 60 percent of Republicans, now believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, according to recent NBC News-Wall Street Journal polls.
'TAINTED GOODS'
Safety concerns have helped stir anti-trade momentum, a development analysts said could boost the globalization issue to the top of voter agendas in 2008.
"The tainted goods issue is a factor," said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington. "A lot more people in the electorate are going to be looking for the government to step in and meet these challenges of globalization, not least of which is product safety. And that's going to cut across party lines."
"Just look at all the bad toys," said retired meat cutter Charles Hrelec, 80, referring to recalls of lead-contaminated and other unsafe toys from China in recent months.
Bernstein said popular opinion against both politicians and U.S. companies that outsource jobs overseas makes trade an issue that Democrats could capitalize on in 2008.
In the crowded hall, Republican Craig Tripp, 37, said he supports Democrat John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, due in large part to his stand against unfettered trade.
"Everything is falling apart," Tripp said. "There's no manufacturing here any more. We're paying $20 billion a month in trade from China -- that can't be sustained. We could be making those goods in the United States."
That the monthly trade imbalance with China -- it was actually $23.8 billion in September -- rolls off the tongue of a middle-class voter does not bode well for free-trade proponents and candidates from both parties have taken note.
Edwards has taken the most populist stand among Democratic front-runners, pledging to revisit unpopular trade deals and chastising rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois for voting to support a trade deal with Peru last week.
But Republicans, too, have taken up the mantra of "fair trade" rather than free trade and U.S. Steel Corp chief operating officer John Goodish said the issue is bipartisan.
"It's our job, together with the union, to make sure we keep manufacturing competitive," Goodish, a Republican, told the crowd. "It's the government's job to make sure we have a level playing field. They're not doing their job." (Editing by Lori Santos and Bill Trott)
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