Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

How the World Trade Organization Can Get Its Groove Back

by May 30, 2023
May 30, 2023

James Bacchus

In this, the third year of his presidential term, President Joe Biden is clearly not making trade—much less trade liberalization—a priority. For the most part, his trade policy is a less strident echo of that of his predecessor, Donald Trump, and, in trade, his has been, as I have previously described it, the reign of polite protectionism. To the extent that he and his administration are negotiating on trade at all, they are negotiating trade deals that cannot truly be called trade deals. Witness the recent announcement of a supply chain coordination agreement with 13 other countries as the first tangible result of the administration’s initiative for an Indo‐​Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). Coordinating operations to safeguard against supply chain disruptions is clearly desirable. So, too, are the administration’s professed goals of making trade, as U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai puts it, promote “sustainability, resiliency and inclusiveness.” But what of the goal of making more trade? This does not seem to be among the president’s goals. Yet, doing so could help attain the administration’s stated goals while also creating economic gains for the American people that will not otherwise be made.

Not surprisingly, a large coalition of prominent US business groups have expressed their reservations about a purported trade deal in IPEF that does not lower existing barriers to trade by cutting tariffs, streamlining regulatory standards, or providing new protections for the intellectual property that is a huge part of the value of the goods and services exported by the United States. Fearful of Congressional opposition to a trade deal that would reduce U.S. tariff “protections”, and fearful, too, of the possible political consequences of the obvious Asia‐​Pacific solution for the United States of simply re‐​joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans‐​Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the president and his advisers are trying, in trade, to make something out of not much more than nothing. What they describe as a “new” approach to trade is not one that makes a priority of lowering barriers to trade. Indeed, based on the evidence so far, the Biden administration seems bent on maintaining and increasing the protectionist barriers erected by the United States that constrain the growth of trade.

For what I think the United States should be seeking globally in trade, see my new Cato Policy Analysis, “The Future of the WTO: Multilateral or Plurilateral?”.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Sector Spotlight: Will Tech Take a Seasonal Break in June?
next post
The Continuing Effort to Deny that Libertarian‐​ish Voters Exist

You may also like

Americans Should Not Expect the Fed to Lower...

June 27, 2023

Owners Have the Right to Choose Who Lives...

June 6, 2024

India Poised to Scrap its Jones Act

September 22, 2023

New Book Excerpt: False Dawn, The New Deal...

April 21, 2025

The Consequences of Regulation: How GDPR Is Preventing...

June 22, 2023

New Cato Study Confirms Fed Cannot Control Inflation

November 6, 2023

Secret Deals, Endless Wars: The America First Betrayal...

June 13, 2025

Tenth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity for First Amendment...

July 21, 2023

Crypto Clarity Is Up to Congress: Taking Stock...

July 19, 2023

The US Labor Market Explains Most of the...

November 16, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Republican senator claims RFK Jr. mRNA vaccine decision undermines Trump agenda

      August 7, 2025
    • Who is Anita Dunn? The Biden confidante who clashed with Hunter grilled in House autopen probe

      August 7, 2025
    • Case v. Montana Brief: Limit Loopholes to the Fourth Amendment

      August 7, 2025
    • Trump opens $9tn US retirement market to crypto in landmark executive order

      August 7, 2025
    • What Should We Learn from China’s Nuclear Construction Costs?

      August 7, 2025
    • Closing the Primary Care Gap

      August 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,704)
    • Investing (2,182)
    • Politics (16,333)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved