Backlash Against Trade Worries Businesses in Indiana, Mike Pence’s State

(cross posting from GD)

INDIANAPOLIS—In a state highly competitive in manufacturing, the political backlash against trade is jolting businesses that once saw a pro-trade governor as their ally. Their onetime advocate, Gov. Mike Pence, is now the running mate for one of the leading skeptics of international trade agreements, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Businesses watching the sharp trade critiques of Mr. Trump and, increasingly, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, see a rising threat to their interests.

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Indiana boasts worldwide exports of corn, soybeans and pork, and also has the highest percentage of manufacturing jobs of any state in the nation. The state ranks eighth in manufacturing exports, compared with the size of its economy, and trade experts say its factory competitiveness helped it fare better than other states after the U.S. opened Mexican markets through the North American Free Trade Agreement. The state’s competitive exports have long underpinned political support for trade liberalization, and Mr. Pence reliably backed Nafta and other trade agreements both as a House lawmaker and later as governor.

But two things happened that shook Mr. Pence’s support for trade agreements. First, Carrier Corp., the heating and air-conditioning giant, said in February it would move its Indianapolis production to Mexico, an announcement that resonated nationally in an election year.

Then, Mr. Trump picked Mr. Pence as his running mate, and the governor backed away from supporting Nafta and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a trade agreement with Japan and 10 other nations that Republicans had largely supported and President Barack Obama is trying to get through Congress.

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Many business leaders worry the bitter campaign rhetoric has gone beyond focused attacks on the most controversial provisions of Nafta and the TPP, and instead morphed into a wider movement that is leading voters to question the way the U.S. and leading economies have liberalized trade since World War II.

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Farmers are also concerned, since the TPP would lower Japan’s tariff-and-quota system on U.S. pork, potentially raising prices for farmers and boosting Indiana’s exports by an estimated $53.1 million, according to the American Farm Bureau.

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http://www.wsj.com/articles/backlash-against-trade-worries-businesses-in-indiana-mike-pences-state-1472069068