Trade Agreements

Discover the future of trade ties between China and Europe in 2025. Find out why improving relations is inevitable.

Oren Cass touts Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs in the NY Times. Here’s what he gets wrong about “free trade,” and what we need to get right to understand our future.

When Fox News aired former President Donald Trump and his supporters falsely claiming that Dominion voting machines stole the election for President Joe Biden, it was sued for defamation. This is because print and broadcast media can be held liable, not just for the content they generate themselves but also for any defamatory material produced by third parties that they carry to a larger audience.

Deborah JamesALAI, April 25, 2018

When it became impossible to sell the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on its economic merits, proponents of the deal began to argue for it as a way to contain China’s power in the region. Thomas Friedman picks up this line and runs with it in his latest column.

“Trump came into office vowing to end the trade imbalance with China — a worthy goal. And what was his first move? To tear up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal that would have put the U.S. at the helm of a 12-nation trading bloc built around U.S. interests and values, potentially eliminating some 18,000 tariffs on U.S. goods and controlling 40 percent of global G.D.P. And China was not in the group. That’s called leverage.

“Trump just ripped up the TPP to “satisfy the base” and is now left begging China for trade crumbs, with little leverage. And because he needs China’s help in dealing with North Korea, he has even less leverage on trade.”

Let’s see, we’re eliminating 18,000 tariffs. That sounds really impressive, except the vast majority of these tariffs were near zero anyhow. Admittedly, a zero tariff is more supportive of trade than a tariff of 1.0 percent, but it’s not exactly going to lead to a flood of exports. It has roughly the same impact as a 1.0 percent decline in the value of the dollar, the sort of change in currency values that we often see in a single day.

The touting of the number of tariffs, rather than the impact on trade is the sort of cheap trick propagandists resort to when they can’t make a serious argument. It’s worth also noting that the 18,000 tariff figure includes many altogether meaningless tariffs, like Brunei’s tariffs on ski boots made in the United States and tariffs on items that are already banned from international trade, like shark fins.

Dean Baker
Truthout, January 2, 2017

Dean Baker
Truthout, December 19, 2016

Deborah JamesThe Huffington Post, November 28, 2016

Dean Baker
Truthout, November 28, 2016

Mark WeisbrotThe Hill, November 9, 2016