Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
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The NYT referred to the trade agreements negotiated with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia as “free-trade” agreements. This is inaccurate. They increase many forms of protectionism, most importantly by increasing the extent of patent and copyright protection in U.S. trading partners.
The Obama administration and Congress are strongly opposed to free trade in intellectual output. The NYT should not misrepresent their views on such an important economic issue.