Beto O'Rourke Would End Section 301 Tariffs, Allow WTO Appellate Appointees, If Elected President

Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign released a detailed trade agenda that talked about how he would undo some of what he called President Donald Trump's "disastrous trade war," and how he would advance trade liberalization, if he were elected.

He wants the World Trade Organization to "tackle currency manipulation, competition, overcapacity, industrial subsidies," and incorporate the International Labor Organization's standards so that goods from countries that don't protect collective bargaining could be subject to countervailing duties. He did not explain how the U.S. could convince other members to rewrite the organization's bylaws. However, he did say the U.S. would stop blocking appointments to the appellate body.

If the WTO's rules did not change in a way that allowed a multilateral case against China, O'Rourke laid out some unilateral actions against China he believes would be better than broad tariffs on imports. He said if an investigation found Chinese companies were stealing intellectual property, their access to U.S. banks could be limited. He said the U.S. could limit Chinese investment "in certain U.S. sectors until it ends its most egregious anti-competitive practices."

When negotiating trade agreements, he said they must include the provisions of the Paris Climate Accord and the core labor rights of the ILO, as well as strong minimum wages. He also wants the parties to commit to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. "Trade agreements will not include provisions that restrict governments’ ability to regulate in the public interest, such as locking in pharmaceutical patent lengths," he said, in a criticism of the NAFTA rewrite.