The benefits of international trade are evident in Washington. Anywhere from 20 percent to nearly one-third of the state’s jobs are tied to imports and exports, and our products are crucial to global transportation, agriculture, retailing and even coffee consumption.
The Pacific Trade Pact, announced last week by President Joe Biden, is good news for Washington’s economy. After four years of an administration that retreated from global trade, the goal of the pact is to rebuild relationships with partner nations and to demonstrate that the United States desires to remain a leader in the worldwide economy.
“America First” for too many people means a bunker mentality in which America withdraws from agreements that are mutually beneficial for us and our allies. It should mean that the United States takes the lead in setting an economic agenda for our trading partners, working to open markets for American goods to be shipped overseas and welcoming products from other nations.
Our state is at the center of that push-and-pull between competing philosophies about trade, giving federal policies an outside impact on our workers and companies.
To be sure, the Pacific Trade Pact is not a panacea. As columnist Catherine Rampell of The Washington Post notes, the United States and 12 other nations managed to approve a “trade deal that will somehow not involve much (if any) trade liberalization.”
Because of that, the agreement is largely symbolic. But symbolism is important as America attempts to regain the trust and support of friendly nations that must stand with us to stem the growing economic influence of China.
U.S. officials long have believed that the Chinese government and Chinese companies engage in unfair trade practices, the theft of intellectual property and violations of data privacy. The result is a burgeoning economic power that is every bit as dangerous as untrustworthy military powers.
Not long ago, the United States forged a broad agreement to economically stand up to China. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiated by the Obama administration, brought together the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations to forge open markets, define labor and environmental standards, and form a bulwark against Chinese influence.
By the time Barack Obama left office, Democrats in Washington, D.C., had joined Republicans in opposing the partnership. The Trump administration responded with trade policy that amounted to punitive tariffs and little else — a simplistic approach to a complicated issue. Notably, the remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership nations adopted many aspects of the pact, leaving the U.S. to watch from the sidelines rather than taking a leadership role.
The new Pacific Trade Pact is bereft of the intricate details that were present in the previous agreement. It fails to adequately open trading avenues and fails to adequately provide a path into the lucrative U.S. market that so many nations desire. As a headline on an opinion piece from Bloomberg news summarizes: “The U.S. can’t beat China if it’s scared of trade.”
That fear comes from isolationists in Congress and an understanding by the Biden administration that Republicans have turned away from their long-held faith in free trade. Yet the symbolism of the new deal remains important. If the United States can repair relationships that were damaged during the Trump administration, it will build the confidence of our trading partners.
That confidence will resonate in Washington as much as anywhere else.
