Every State of the Union message is a laundry list of policies and priorities, some more compelling than others. (We found this year's list pretty compelling, but that's a matter of taste.) Trade was bound to be included. From a President who has forced trade policy to the top of the national agenda, the only question was just what he would say about trade. In a sense, there are trade aspects to many of the things Mr. Trump talked about last Tuesday, but these four were the ones most clearly within the circle of trade policy issues.
No. I. NAFTA and USCMA. President Trump had campaigned against NAFTA and last fall he signed the agreement that is meant to replace it, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA. In this year's State of the Union address he asked Congress to approve legislation to implement it. We'll return to what the President had to say about USMCA in a moment, but first let's continue with the list.
No. II. China. "[W]e are working on a new trade deal with China," President Trump said, adding that "it must include real structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs."
No. III. Reciprocal Trade. This was another specific request. "I am asking you to pass the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an American product, we can charge them the exact same tariff on the exact same product that they sell to us." And
No. IV. Pricing of Prescription Drugs. Whatever the policy instruments for addressing this issue turn out to be, President Trump framed it in trade terms. He said:
"It's unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs ... . I am asking Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients, finally."
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Again, we expect to discuss each of these topics in future entries, but today's featured quote is about NAFTA and the USMCA, and so we shall say just a word or two more about that before closing this one.
First, the President devoted two paragraphs to the North American trade agreements - that's a lot in a State of the Union message. And here they are:
Another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as NAFTA. I have met the men and women of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, and many other states whose dreams were shattered by the signing of NAFTA. For years, politicians promised them they would renegotiate for a better deal, but no one ever tried, until now.
Our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the USMCA, will replace NAFTA and deliver for American workers like they haven't had delivered to for a long time. I hope you can pass the USMCA into law so that we can bring back our manufacturing jobs in even greater numbers, expand American agriculture, protect intellectual property, and ensure that more cars are proudly stamped with our four beautiful words: "Made in the USA." (Applause.)
