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Trade Negotator says "Sorry, I messed up" |
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Written by Stumo
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Tuesday, 10 June 2008 |
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From the horses mouth, via a new blog on economics and trade, on June 4, 2008.
Writing today in Foreign Policy in Focus, Robert Cassidy,
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Asia and for China for the
Clinton administration, takes himself to task for the trade agreement
with China that he negotiated. Here is how he begins:
As the principal negotiator for the landmark market
access agreement that led to China’s accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO), I have reflected on whether the agreements we
negotiated really lived up to our expectations. A sober reflection has
led me to conclude that those trade agreements did not.
We failed to address the underlying fundamental market distortions that
skew the benefits toward the few while leaving the rest of the economy
less well off. As George Soros, in a Bloomberg News interview on the
financial crisis, recently said, “…the system, as it currently
operates, is built on false premises.” The premise on which our trade
agreements are negotiated is at best flawed, if not broken.
And here is a key paragraph in which he explains why the trade agreement with China failed:
Using China as an example once again, proponents of the
free trade model argue that China has a competitive advantage in wage
rates that makes it ideal as the global manufacturing center that it
has become. A closer examination, however, reveals that China has
adopted an export-led development strategy, the centerpiece of which is
a currency that is undervalued by 20-80%, with the consensus leaning
toward 40%. Thus China’s wages, in U.S. dollar terms, are 40% cheaper
than they would have been if the currency were allowed to freely float.
Similarly, foreign investors receive a 40% subsidy to develop
operations in China. To add insult to injury, our exports are taxed at
an additional effective 40% rate....
Here is the original piece by Cassidy.
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In the news
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Brian O'Shaughnessy is CPA's Chief Co-Chair and Manufacturing Co-Chair. We also have a Labor Co-Chair, Bob Baugh, and Agriculture Co-Chair, Joe Logan.
Brian, Chairman of Revere Copper Products, presented at the R-CALF USA annual convention on Friday, January 22, 2010. His presentation involved a discussion of how America became strong through making and growing things here, his history in mining and ranching, the strategic importance of continuing that course, and how we all need to work together to fix America's trade and economic problems.
The video presentation is available here. |
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