Leibowitz on Trade: Problems and Solutions

International trade problems and their resolutions inherently deal with the most parochial and global interests. Opponents of trade liberalization decry “bad deals” that rob the United States of good-paying American jobs. Proponents support trade deals because they make consumers in America and the world over better off (“save money, live better”). In the 1990s, the proponents of trade agreements won the day, with the establishment of the WTO and numerous free trade agreements. Now, the opponents seem to have the upper hand.

Last Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave his first major speech as a member of the administration on foreign policy, which included a fairly detailed analysis of international trade negotiations, confirming that the opponents have done better at getting the ear of the administration. Promising a refocus of trade on American workers, the secretary, as the Washington Post points out, all but conceded that trade agreements negotiated in the 1990s and 2000s did not adequately consider the damage they might do to some Americans. He said, “we didn’t do enough to understand who would be negatively affected and what would be needed to adequately offset their pain, or to enforce agreements that were already on the books and help more workers and small businesses fully benefit from them.”