Some further thoughts on Obama’s trade stategy
My latest column for The National Interest Online is now available. It takes a longer look at the implications of Obama’s tire tariff decision. The more I look at this move, the more freaked out I get. I think I’ve figured out the precise contours of Obama’s trade strategy — and trade plays a very ...
My latest column for The National Interest Online is now available. It takes a longer look at the implications of Obama's tire tariff decision. The more I look at this move, the more freaked out I get. I think I've figured out the precise contours of Obama's trade strategy -- and trade plays a very small role:
My latest column for The National Interest Online is now available. It takes a longer look at the implications of Obama’s tire tariff decision. The more I look at this move, the more freaked out I get. I think I’ve figured out the precise contours of Obama’s trade strategy — and trade plays a very small role:
With Obama… this dip in the protectionism pool feels like the beginning of something much greater. Many Democrats feel warm and fluffy about protectionism, as a mechanism to improve labor standards or an ironclad guarantor of union jobs. This love affair isn’t going to stop. Thea Lee, the chief economist of the AFL-CIO, told the New York Times that “the trade decision was the president’s first down payment on his promise to more effectively enforce trade laws, and it’s very much appreciated.” Unions are already demanding additional action against Chinese steel….
All presidential administrations engage in protectionism—it’s often the cost of pushing through other forms of trade liberalization. While the previous two administrations engaged in these kinds of actions, they could proudly point to ambitious agendas of trade liberalization as well. The Clinton administration sought to add contentious labor and environmental side agreements to its trade deals—but Clinton also spent political capital to get NAFTA and the Uruguay round through Congress. Bush imposed the steel tariffs—but his administration also secured the passage of (now expired) trade promotion authority, launched the Doha round, and completed major trade agreements with Australia and Central America. President Bush also rejected this action against Chinese tires on four separate occasions.
Barack Obama has no record of trade liberalization to fall back on when defending this measure. Indeed, this is the first major trade action his administration has taken. Based on the political reporting of this trade action, it seems clear that Obama will use trade policy as a sop to his base in order to keep them behind his major policy initiatives on health care, financial regulation, and environmental protection.
Obama has largely decided to become a domestic-policy president. His supporters, his base and the politicking of his underlings indicate things will only get worse. With the global economy in deep crisis, protectionism is a terrible way to build a recovery.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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