While press attention in the U.S. today is focused on the primaries in Ohio and Texas, and the candidates’ positions on NAFTA, The Nation blog points out that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are actually taking a stronger position on China, while no-one is paying attention:
No serious observer of the trade debate doubts that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been moved by their hopes of winning today’s Ohio primary to take more critical stances regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement.
But NAFTA is a minor trade deal compared with the permanent most-favored-nation trading status afforded China by the Bill Clinton administration and its Republican allies in 2000. China is the economic behemoth that is redefining international trade.
And the real story out of Ohio is that Obama and Clinton are talking tough about China trade.