On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are constantly talking about trade, tariffs and domestic manufacturing.

In many ways, these talking points stem from a single trade deal that transformed the U.S. economy and remade both parties’ relationship with the working class.

Dan Kaufman, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, explains how the North American Free Trade Agreement broke American politics.

Guest: Dan Kaufman (https://www.nytimes.com/by/dan-kaufman) , the author of “The Fall of Wisconsin (https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Fall-of-Wisconsin/) ,” and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.

Background reading: 

• How NAFTA broke American politics (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/magazine/nafta-tarriffs-economy-trump-kamala-harris.html) .
• Both Democrats and Republicans are expressing support for tariffs (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/27/us/politics/trump-harris-tariffs.html) to protect American industry, reversing decades of trade thinking in Washington.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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