Author: s.mednick

Customs unions: Two or more countries decide not to impose tariffs on each other’s goods and agree to impose common external tariffs on goods from countries outside their customs union. Setting common external tariffs is what makes a customs union different from a free trade area. This article explains more.

Britain could use Turkey as a model for post-Brexit trade agreements because they have a customs union with the EU. Sir Andrew Cahn, the former chief executive of UK Trade and Investment explains what that could look like.

“China had a great run, but it’s over.”

Global trade had been slowing since well before the US election and recent wave of anti-globalization campaigns in other countries. According to the World Trade Organization, in the five months leading up to mid-October last year, members of the Group of 20 implemented on average 17 trade constraints a month. This article helps to explain why, and cites one example of a number of large and small countries imposing tariffs on steel imports.

“The bottom line: The trade environment Trump inherits is a volatile one, with small trade wars and universal retaliation against Chinese steel sales.”

This article gives a concrete example of what happens when countries curb free trade. The auto industry is very globalized, so the industry could falter if tariffs increase, and costs would be passed on to the consumers.

Fun facts: The Dodge Ram 1500 is only 59.5% made in America. The Honda Accord is 81% American.

Not my topic but thought this article, which includes an interview with Mark Zuckerberg, might be of interest.

This article gives a glimpse into how the anti-globalization views of the Trump Administration could impact trade deals between other countries. The trade deal discussed in this article has been negotiated over 7 years, so it’s not a direct response to Trump, but he is mentioned by supporters of the deal. “‘We want to make clear in this vote that we don’t want to build walls, we want to build bridges,’ said Manfred Weber, a prominent member of the European Parliament from Germany.” The deal isn’t final yet – it must still be ratified by national and some regional parliaments across the EU, and the Canadian parliament.

If more similar deals start between other countries, will the US be kept out of the loop? Will this lessen our position of power and influence in the world?

The tragedy of killing TPP
This article outlines the benefits of global trade and even advocates for a worldwide trade plan involving every country on the planet. It includes pretty amazing statistics about how he believes Americans and others could have benefited from TPP.

The truth about trade
This article is older but provides a more nuanced explanation of the trade agreement and global trade agreements in general. It is written by Jeff Sachs, who we spoke about briefly last class. He is much more critical of the deal.

This is the statement I mentioned in class.

Trump Tough Talk Pushes Argentina, Brazil to Embrace Trade

Brazil and Argentina are hoping to restructure Mercosur as the result of a “global reassessment of trade deals prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump.” This article gives a pretty grim overview of the agreement itself, and suggests reform is unlikely. Mercosur and the EU have been in talks since 1999 but have not struck a deal yet.

I read this article about a potential conflict of interest for Trump’s liaison to the business community. It seems that this individual did act legally and ethically in the sale of his business to a Chinese firm, and the deal is being heavily scrutinized. As he says in the article – “They know they cannot talk to me, so what influence are they buying?” I was just wondering – and this goes for other members of Trump’s team too – is it really possible to completely avoid conflicts of interest with foreign countries where they’ve done business? This aide is making a clean break from his company so it probably all looks OK on paper, but he will still know people at the company who will be affected by Trump’s trade policies, so couldn’t he always have conflict?