Trade is An Issue That Links Sanders and Trump
But the most decisive factor, interestingly enough, may have been the sleeper issue of the year. Trump on the right and Sanders on the left have beat their drums with equal outrage over an issue with which they have broken with their own parties: the downside of trade agreements.
Trade proved to be a "late-breaking issue" that turned a lot of voters away from Clinton, EPIC/MRA's Porn told the Free Press.
CNN's exit polls found that 58 percent of Michigan voters believed trade with other countries costs jobs, compared to 30 percent who believed it creates them. Trump and Sanders won majorities of those who believe trade costs jobs.
Trade is an issue in which where you stand depends on where you sit -- economically, educationally and geographically. Those who have a high school diploma or less have seen their employment and promotion opportunities dry up since the 1950s as big employers like Detroit's once-robust auto industry have moved overseas or to other states that have lower labor costs.
Sanders calls NAFTA, CAFTA, TPP and other major trade deals a "disaster" that have put American wages on a race to the bottom. Trump promises to raise tariffs and be a tougher negotiator, particularly with China.
But those who are attracted to such tougher trade talk should be careful what they wish for. Americans learned a hard lesson with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 that raised tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods. The result was a disastrous trade war as our trading partners retaliated with new tariffs of their own.
Many experts on the right and left agree that Smoot-Hawley made the Great Depression even worse. It certainly didn't help make things better.
Americans have benefitted from lower prices and new industries made possible by changing trade policies in recent decades. But while some people are movers and shakers, as my factory-worker father used to say, others get moved and shaken. Responsible political leaders need to help lower-skilled workers who have been left adrift by economic changes -- before the demagogues get to them.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
