General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Pew Research, May 27: "Free Trade Agreements Seen as Good for U.S." [View all]pampango
(24,692 posts)Truman epitomized this with the International Trade Organization and GATT. The former was rejected by a republican congress. The latter approved by Truman by executive order so that the same congress could not reject it, too. Tariffs were lowered by every Democratic president after Truman.
The republican party was the high-tariff, low-trade party until 1980 when its establishment adopted the long-standing Democratic trade policy.
As you can tell from the poll results you posted (and many others), the republican establishment may have flip-flopped on trade but their base never did. Of course, their base not only dislikes trade agreements and the WTO, they detest the UN, the IMF, the World Bank plus practically every international agreement and organization since they all diminish 'national sovereignty' and push the concept of global cooperation and 'We are all in this together". Conservatives much prefer "US, exceptional Americans" vs "THEM, sneaky foreigners" to "We are all in this together".