New and Improved Trade Agreements?

Though trade agreements are unpopular nowadays, particularly in the US, the truth is that previous agreements benefited America and the world. So the most straightforward argument for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership and other agreements now under discussion is that similar economic benefits are likely to follow.

WASHINGTON, DC – Trade is high on the agenda in the United States, Europe, and much of Asia this year. In the US, where concern has been heightened by weak recent trade numbers, President Barack Obama is pushing for Congress to give him Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), previously known as fast-track authority, to conclude the mega-regional Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 Asian and Latin American countries. Without TPA, trading partners refrain from offering their best concessions, correctly fearing that Congress would seek to take “another bite of the apple” when asked to ratify any deal.

In marketing the TPP, Obama tends to emphasize some of the features that distinguish it from earlier pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These include commitments by Pacific countries on the environment and the expansion of enforceable labor rights, as well as the geopolitical argument for America’s much-discussed strategic “rebalancing” toward Asia.

As with consumer products, the slogan “New and improved!” sells. NAFTA and other previous trade agreements are unpopular. So the Obama administration’s argument is apparently, “We have learned from our mistakes. This agreement will fix them.”

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