In addition to building on the successful 2017 tax reform law, increasing access to quality, affordable health care and improving the United States' global competitiveness through free and fair trade are among his top priorities.
Improve the United States' global competitiveness through free and fair trade.
Occurrences
works on a bipartisan basis to modernize and strengthen the programs with an eye toward longer-term renewal
Evidence
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Crapo said he voted favorably in committee to advance the USMCA and argued the updated agreement corrected unfair treatment in NAFTA and would better support U.S. farmers and workers.
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Crapo praised enactment of USMCA, saying the agreement improved access to export opportunities for Idaho farmers and ranchers; the release also described free and fair trade as vital to Idaho's export industry.
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As Finance Committee chairman, Crapo said the Senate's approval of USMCA showed broad support for trade deals that expand U.S. jobs, wealth, and growth, and said the agreement's impact is largely positive.
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Crapo voted for the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement and said reciprocal market access was essential to keeping U.S. industries globally competitive.
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Crapo's trade issue page says he continues to advocate opening foreign markets, breaking down trade barriers, renewing trade programs, and enacting smart trade policies to maximize growth opportunities.
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The current official biography says Crapo's 119th Congress priorities include "improving the United States' global competitiveness through free and fair trade."
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In a Finance Committee hearing statement, Crapo said USMCA demonstrates broad support for trade deals that expand jobs, wealth and growth, and noted that trade with Canada and Mexico supports 13 million American jobs.
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The Senate Finance Committee said Chairman Mike Crapo and Ranking Member Ron Wyden applauded the extension of AGOA and Haiti HOPE/HELP, signed into law in H.R. 6500. The release said the programs support U.S. strategic and economic interests, supply-chain resiliency, and business certainty, and that H.R. 6500 reauthorizes them through the end of 2028.
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The official Senate roll call records H.R. 6500 passing 90-6 on August 8, 2026. The measure concerned duty-free treatment for imports from certain African countries under AGOA and customs user fees, and Crapo is listed as voting Yea.
Assessments
The promise was broad and open-ended, so later trade-policy wins do not fully resolve it. Crapo took concrete later-term actions toward free and fair trade, including supporting and helping advance USMCA, backing the U.S.-Peru trade agreement, and as Senate Finance chair supporting the 2026 AGOA and Haiti trade preference extension that passed and was signed into law. These actions plausibly improved market access and competitiveness in specific areas, but the evidence does not show full fulfillment of the overall global competitiveness commitment during the 1999-2005 term or afterward.
Crapo consistently advanced free-trade policy in later Senate service, including committee action on USMCA and support for the Peru trade agreement, both tied to export access and competitiveness. That shows real legislative effort and some delivered trade-policy gains, but the evidence does not establish that he fully achieved the broader, outcome-level promise of improving U.S. global competitiveness through free and fair trade.
The promise was broad and ongoing rather than a discrete deliverable. Crapo materially supported later federal trade measures, including voting for the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement and advancing/supporting USMCA through Senate Finance Committee work, both tied to market access and U.S. competitiveness. However, the evidence does not show that he fully delivered the overall promise to improve U.S. global competitiveness through free and fair trade, and much of the record is advocacy or support for broader agreements rather than sole or decisive completion of the promised outcome. Because the concrete actions occurred after the 1999-2005 Senate term tied to the 1998 campaign, timing is later_term.
Crapo continued to pursue the promised trade agenda after his 1999-2005 Senate term, including voting for the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement and materially advancing USMCA through the Senate Finance Committee before praising its enactment. Those actions align with free and fair trade and market-access goals, but the promise is broad and the evidence shows support for specific trade agreements and advocacy rather than proof that he fully improved U.S. global competitiveness as an outcome. Because he made serious later-term legislative efforts with some successful policy delivery, partial credit is warranted rather than full delivery.