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- cross-posted to:
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Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, said on Saturday that he would kill off a Pacific trade pact being advanced by U.S. President Joe Biden if he were to win the 2024 election and return to the White House.
Speaking to supporters in Iowa, Trump said he was against the regional trade deal being negotiated by the Biden administration with 13 other countries, arguing that it would hollow out U.S. manufacturing and trigger job losses.
Talks on the trade sections of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which is aimed at offering the region an alternative to China’s growing trade clout, stumbled in recent days after some countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia, declined to commit to strong labor and environmental standards.
Trump, who withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal that had been forged with many of the same countries after taking office in January 2017, said he would “knock out” what he referred to as “TPP Two” immediately upon taking office.
Trade deals dont have the best track record in benefitting the working class, most times it fucks us over. He was right in killing the TPP, one of the few things he did that was right.
Neither does protectionism. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but isi policies that make imports expensive also hurt the working class. Overall free trade might be fine if it’s combined with a more robust welfare state.
TPP had some serious negatives for the US but did more to make the world less China-centric than anything in the last 30yrs. All the smaller Asian countries (and Australia)on board stood to benefit from increased manufacturing. Would have done wonders to decentralize reliance on China.There were probably less things in the TPP for China to like than western leaning countries. Killing it was a gift to them.
It’s a soft power move not an economic move, it just happens to have an effect on the economy as well. The int of it was to make freaking with China less advantageous and thus make everywhere else more advantageous. Similarly the other commentor is right, you can’t say you’re against it because it’s bad for the working class without offering a better solution.