President Trump’s skepticism of free trade often leads him astray, but it also leads him to one good and important stance: skepticism of multilateral trade treaties.
Trump, who withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, prefers one-on-one trade deals. This week he advanced the laudable idea of a bilateral trade deal with Japan — an idea Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe greeted warmly and said he is working on with Vice President Mike Pence.
Twenty-five years ago, Japan was the protectionists’ bête noire. They were supposedly going to murder U.S. industry and their economy was going to beat ours. That obviously hasn’t happened, and these days, Japan looks like exactly the sort of place where free traders and Trump can find common ground.
Trump and his supporters worry about the downward pressure that free trade can apply to wages. But Japan is a fairly high-wage country, and so liberalized trade is not about to lead to an outflow of U.S. factories to Kyoto.
Also, Japan already has similar labor and environmental standards, meaning manufacturers here won’t face a disadvantage in a more frictionless trade environment.
Strengthening ties with Asian countries is extra important because — this was a central aim of TPP — the alternative is allowing China to gain greater influence in the region.
We have also applauded Trump’s pursuit of a trade deal with the U.K., which President Barack Obama wanted to send to the back of the line.
Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner’s commentary editor, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
