The first night’s debate lacked any questions on trade by the moderators, but a few of the candidates mentioned “China” when asked about the largest geopolitical threat facing the United States. Congressman Tim Ryan (OH) was the most explicit in his remarks singling out China as an economic threat. He and several other candidates talked about manufacturing jobs, but there was little in the way of connecting trade and jobs.

On the second night, moderator Lester Holt of NBC asked a question about trade, but only three candidates had a chance to answer before the debate was halted for a break.

Senator Bennet of Colorado said that China is a big problem, but argued that the best way to deal with China was to unite with our allies. Andrew Yang focused on China’s intellectual property theft, but said that imposing tariffs to address the Chinese behavior is a mistake. Mayor Pete Buttigieg stated that the Chinese government is using technology in the pursuit of authoritarianism. He mentioned as well that the Chinese are trying to dominate certain technologies. That said, he criticized the use of tariffs, which he referred to as a tax, and he said the tariffs have hurt farmers.

Missing from the first two nights were comments by the candidates leading in the polls. At some point in the campaign, perhaps in the next debate, former Vice President Biden and the other candidates will engage in a discussion of the trade policies of the Obama Administration, which proved to be somewhat sensitive for former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton when she was campaigning against candidate Trump. By way of background, in the 2008 Democratic primary campaigns, then-candidate Obama built up a lead with wins in the early primary states. When the campaign moved to the Midwest industrial states, then-candidate Clinton staked out a more hard-line trade policy that contrasted with the more free-trade policies of Sen. Obama. In doing so, she, her approach was also a contrast with President Clinton's free trade actions, including NAFTA. Ultimately, Mr. Obama moved a little closer to former Sen. Clinton's positions and went on to win the presidency. Notably, trade was not a particularly contentious issue in the campaign, as former Senator McCain, the Republican nominee was more free trade oriented than Sen. Obama. By the time of the 2016 campaign, however, trade was front and center. The Republican nominee, Mr. Trump, hammered former Secretary Clinton for referring to the Transpacific Partnership Agreement as the "Gold Standard" for trade agreements and being weak on trade generally. While Secretary Clinton tried to back away from that early support for the TPP, it was an issue that Mr. Trump emphasized, particularly in the Midwest industrial states, and proved costly there. If former Vice-President Biden is the Democratic nominee, President Trump will surely be raising the TPP issue as well as the other policies of the Obama Administration. As mentioned, it is likely that the debate over those policies will begin among the Democrats first. It will be a delicate issue as Democrats do not want to be seen as criticizing the Obama Administration, but do not want to give President Trump any openings.

The trade debate is unlikely to be boring--or largely absent, as it was for the first debates.

The white paper describes the policy as putting “workers and small businesses first, ahead of corporate special interests.” It aims to “fundamentally transform” American trade policies to “combat those countries that try to cheat on trade,” singling out both China and Russia.

The plan would greatly increase federal scrutiny of foreign trade and investment by American corporations. Perhaps most significantly, it proposes the creation of an American Jobs Security Council, which would review any potential purchase of an American company by a foreign entity, and would have the authority to stop the deal if it determined that it would have a detrimental economic impact, such as the loss of American jobs.

Also notable is the plan’s contention that the U.S. Trade Representative and the World Trade Organization are ineffective at combatting trade cheating. In response, it proposes the appointment of an Independent Trade Prosecutor, which would evaluate possible trade violations, and impose retaliations without authorization from the WTO.

Other proposals include renegotiating NAFTA to require stronger, enforceable labor standards to drive up global wages and increase market access for American exports, as well as tax policies that would punish outsourcing. In the government contracting space, it proposes requiring government projects only hire U.S. companies using U.S. labor, and requiring federal agencies to consider a company’s record of outsourcing jobs when awarding government contracts.

The platform is seen as a move to recapture some of the voters who were swayed by Trump’s anti-globalization platform in 2016. Overall, it presents a message that is far more populist and protectionist than has been voiced by Democratic candidates and lawmakers in the recent past. Whether the shift succeeds at recapturing votes in the 2018 midterm elections remains to be seen.