Resident Scholar  Claude E. Barfield

Sir, I rarely have disagreed with Jagdish Bhagwati on issues of international trade, but I fear on this occasion ("Obama's free-trade credentials top Clinton's", March 4) he has succumbed to the "Obamania" that is sweeping the Democratic party--and maybe the country.

The distinctions he attempts to make between the two Democratic candidates are not supported by the available evidence. First, the "infamous" interview by Hillary Clinton arguing for a "pause" in trade agreements pales in significance before the more infamous declarations by both Democratic candidates that they would demand that Canada and Mexico agree to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement or rescind it. Or Barack Obama's hypocrisy and "Clintonesque" explanations regarding the "wink and nod" private assurances to Canadian officials by his chief economic adviser that his stand was only for political positioning in the Ohio primary and that he had no intention of following through on his Nafta promises.

Second, the assertion that the Teamsters and services unions are not protectionist will certainly be news to James Hoffa and Andrew Stern. Both unions have marched in lockstep with the anti-global stances of the AFL-CIO union federation, contrary to the point Professor Bhagwati makes. And finally, I am mystified by the defence of Senator Obama's ill-advised proposal to give tax breaks to US corporations that invest only at home. Having "smartly seized" this policy solely for political advantage among the protectionist elements of the Democratic party, it is highly unlikely that as president he would pivot and bravely "embrace multilateral free trade" in the face of adamant opposition from these same powerful party constituencies.

Jagdish Bhagwati has himself been a brave voice against the anti-global forces in the Democratic party; but I suspect that the differences he discerns between the Democratic candidates will not convince those who have "no dog in this fight".

Claude Barfield is a resident scholar at AEI.