The trade discussion continues, both in the Senate and over the Internet. Last week Senator Sessions’ office published this and I wrote “Bad arguments against trade” in response. Yesterday his office released this. Parts of his second round suggest Senator Sessions knows his positions still don’t fit too well with conservative views of good economic policy.
Start with where I agree with the Senator: the trade negotiation and voting process should be more transparent, and the Obama Administration has not been helpful.
Transparency is addressed at length in the bill describing trade authority, or “fast-track,” the Senate is fighting over. The bill involves Congress much more during the process and ensures trade agreements can’t go into effect without being published months beforehand. The main problem regarding transparency isn’t passing this bill, it’s that the bill wasn’t passed 5 years ago.
So much for Senator Sessions and I agreeing. He questions the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the trade deficit. I have serious worries about the late stages of TPP talks, but not about the trade deficit.
A wider trade deficit, if it occurs, usually means Americans have the freedom and ability to buy more imports because our economy is doing well. That’s why our biggest-ever trade deficit was in 2006, when unemployment was well below 5%. That’s why our trade deficit plunges $325 billion in 2009, as our economy tanked and unemployment jumped to 10%.
Senator Sessions has many concerns, including sovereignty. From yesterday’s alert,
. . . if the Trans-Pacific Partnership or any future trade deal ignores those objectives, it is unlikely Congress will do anything about it. Practically speaking, the negotiating objectives operate as mere suggestions. And, as the Congressional Research Service explains, the fast-tracked deal ‘would supersede existing U.S. law’ and result in the U.S. being ‘bound by international law,’ arbitrated by a global tribunal.
It’s fast-track to a vote, not to a yes vote. If the TPP or other trade deals meet the objectives laid out by Congress, they should be approved. Otherwise, Congress should point to its objectives and say the trade deal isn’t up to snuff.
With regard to international law superseding American, if you read page 34 of the document the Senator cites, you may decide his quotes are misleading. In any case, the fast-track bill itself trumps an earlier report on what the bill might do. It reads,
No provision of any trade agreement entered into under section 3(b), nor the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, that is inconsistent with any law of the United States, any State of the United States, or any locality of the United States shall have effect.
Can’t get much clearer than that (though I’m not a lawyer).
To close with the principles involved, Senator Sessions believes, “Conservativism is to proceed with caution, guided by the results of history, with a willingness to adjust one’s position based on real-world results.”
Another version of conservatism is to embrace freedom and competition as fully as possible, guided by the overwhelming evidence from real-world results today and throughout history that freedom and competition bring prosperity. Take your pick.
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