5 Years Later the United States Is Still Paying for Its TPP Blunder

Colin GrabowLast month —January 23 to be exact —marked the five-year anniversary of President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. The country has been paying for it ever since.Comprised of the United States and eleven other Pacific Rim countries —including economic heavyweight Japan—the TPP was found by a 2016Cato analysis to result in net trade liberalization. A study by the U.S. International Trade Commission calculated a real U.S. GDP increase of$42.7 billion through 2032 as a result of TPP membership while a Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) working paper foresaw gains to U.S. real incomes of$131 billion through 2030.But the United States withdrew from the TPP, and those gains never happened.The TPP, however, was aimed at more than just lowering trade barriers. It was also an attempt by the United States —along with like-minded allies—to help shape the rules governing trade in the Asia-Pacific region. As Asia ' s center both geographically and economically, China is already assured of having a significant say in such matters. The TPP was meant to ensure the United States had a prominent seat at the table when such rules were being hammered out —before it opted to push away.In other words, U.S. losses from its TPP withdrawal have not just been economic but geopolitical. And if the TPP was deemed a useful tool in countering China ’s influence during the years it was b...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs