CHICAGO — Opposition to free trade is a unifying concept even in a deeply divided electorate, with almost two-thirds of Americans favoring more restrictions on imported goods instead of fewer.
The latest Bloomberg Politics national poll shows the issue unites the country like few others, across lines of politics, race, gender, education and income.
A stunning rejection of what was a postwar cornerstone of American economic and foreign policies reverberates again and again in the answers to the poll’s questions.
Large majorities or pluralities favor policies protecting domestic jobs over lower prices, describe the North American Free Trade Agreement as being bad for the U.S., and even prefer a U.S. company building a nearby factory to employ 1,000 workers over a foreign — in this instance Chinese — owner that would hire twice as many.
“Virtually every question of policy has a Republican-Democrat split,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, who oversaw the survey. “On trade, there is unity.”
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders, from opposite ends of the political spectrum, have especially sought to leverage the protectionist sentiment to boost their presidential campaigns.
Trump has tapped into growing anger among voters who say free-trade policies, including some that have helped add to his own personal wealth, have hurt communities and meant the loss of manufacturing jobs to China, Mexico and other nations.
Sanders has repeatedly targeted what he calls “disastrous” trade deals such as NAFTA that he argues benefit corporate America at a cost of lost jobs and a shrinking middle class.
In an appearance Tuesday at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce conference in Washington, former Boeing CEO Jim McNerney called Trump’s trade discussion “very dangerous” and added that “the political debate is a little scary right now.”
In an era of increased U.S. worry about China’s growing economic and military strength, the poll found that more than two-thirds of Americans pick fewer jobs over Chinese ownership, when asked to select between a theoretical offer for their community of a U.S.-owned factory with 1,000 jobs or a Chinese-owned plant with 2,000 workers.