Democratic Party (United States)

==== Trade agreements ====
Like the Republican Party, the Democratic Party has taken widely varying views on [[international trade]] throughout its history. 
The Democrats dominated the [[Second Party System]] and set low tariffs designed to pay for the government but not protect industry. Their opponents the Whigs wanted high protective tariffs but usually were outvoted in Congress. Tariffs soon became a major political issue as the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]] (1832–1852) and (after 1854) the Republicans wanted to protect their mostly northern industries and constituents by voting for higher tariffs and the [[Southern Democrats]], which had very little industry but imported many goods voted for lower tariffs. After the Second Party System ended in 1854 the Democrats lost control and the new Republican Party had its opportunity to raise rates.<ref>Taussig, ''Tariff History'' pp. 109–24</ref>

During the [[Third Party System]], Democratic president [[Grover Cleveland]] made low tariffs the centerpiece of Democratic Party policies, arguing that high tariffs were an unnecessary and unfair tax on consumers. The South and [[Western United States|West]] generally supported low tariffs, while the industrial [[Northern United States|North]] high tariffs.<ref>Joanne R. Reitano, ''The Tariff Question in the Gilded Age: The Great Debate of 1888'' (Penn State Press, 1994)</ref> During the [[Fourth Party System]], Democratic president [[Woodrow Wilson]] made a drastic lowering of tariff rates a major priority for his presidency. The 1913 [[Underwood Tariff]] cut rates, and the new revenues generated by the [[federal income tax]] made tariffs much less important in terms of economic impact and political rhetoric.<ref>Woodrow Wilson: "Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Banking System," June 23, 1913. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65369 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012012358/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65369 |date=October 12, 2018 }}.</ref>

In the 1990s, the Clinton administration and a number of prominent Democrats pushed through a number of agreements such as the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA). Since then, the party's shift away from free trade became evident in the [[Dominican Republic&nbsp;– Central America Free Trade Agreement|Central American Free Trade Agreement]] (CAFTA) vote, with 15 House Democrats voting for the agreement and 187 voting against.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weisman|first=Jonathan|title=CAFTA Reflects Democrats' Shift From Trade Bills|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 6, 2005|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/05/AR2005070501345_pf.html|access-date=December 10, 2006|archive-date=November 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102173616/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/05/AR2005070501345_pf.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Nichols |first=John |title=CAFTA Vote Outs "Bush Democrats" |magazine=[[The Nation]] |date=July 28, 2005 |url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=8874 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20111027041618/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/john-nichols?bid=1&pid=8874 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |access-date=December 15, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/building-a-stronger-fairer-economy/|title=Building A Stronger, Fairer Economy|website=Democratic National Committee|access-date=August 10, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818204036/https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/building-a-stronger-fairer-economy/|url-status=live}}</ref>