January 24, 2017
The NYT did not bother conceal its enthusiasm for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in a news article reporting on President Trump’s decision to kill the pact. It repeatedly referred to the TPP as a “free trade” pact, an inaccurate term chosen by its proponents to help promote the deal.
In fact, the TPP is largely protectionist, calling for stronger and longer patent and copyright related protections. While the article notes this fact, it doesn’t acknowledge that these incredibly costly forms of protection (which redistribute income upward) are in conflict with principles of free trade and open markets.
The piece also repeats claims from proponents of the TPP that the defeat of the agreement will be a big gain for China at the expense of the United States. It would have been helpful to point out that all of these proponents of the TPP favored bringing China in the WTO with few conditions. This act helped to expand China’s economic power enormously.
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