The Wisdom of the 1945 State Department:
Progressive Trade Policy is Good for American Foreign Policy

competition, Economy, Environment, WTO

For decades now, the conventional wisdom has led us to believe there is a tension between a progressive trade policy – one that focuses on values beyond returns to capital – and American foreign policy. This is a false tension, however. Far from impeding American foreign policy goals, a progressive trade policy advances them. FDR’s…

The Modern Agreement of Amity and Commerce:
Toward a New Model for Trade Agreements

agriculture, competition, Economy, Environment, Rules of Origin

The Open Society Foundation has published a white paper on a new model for trade agreements. As OSF explains: Around the world, the process of economic globalization is under fire for serving the needs of corporate elites rather than ordinary citizens. But it is important to recall that trade does not have to aggravate inequality.…

FTA Fever: Taiwan Edition

China, Economy, Rules of Origin

Geopolitical strife? Let’s do a trade agreement! The latest version of this strategy involves Taiwan. China is a geopolitical concern; Taiwan is an ally; ergo, the United States should do a trade agreement with Taiwan, because it will reinforce economic relations between the two. Which two, though, is the question. Taiwan and the United States? Nope.…

How to Make Trade Work for Workers
At Home and Abroad

competition, Economy, NAFTA, Rules of Origin, WTO

As the Trump Administration has recognized, trade involves a larger question consuming most countries: what kind of policy can make “it possible for most citizens, including those without college educations, to access the middle class through stable, well-paying jobs”? Trickle-Down Trade The Administration, however, can’t achieve this goal, because its trade policy is but an…