Since his election in 2016, President Trump has preached an emphasis on “America first” trade policies. Along with many other conservative political personalities, the current administration has created a pointed shift away from liberal, globalist policies. They claim that this would lead to increased American manufacturing jobs, or at least put a stop to the bleeding that has been going on for years. However, the reality of the United States job market suggests another story.
According to the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the U.S. has slowly been changing the landscape of international trade. By renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada (NAFTA), and the trade agreement with South Korea (KORUS), as well as blocking the appointment of the members of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the American government has severely limited its involvement in these important organizations.
The justification for this drastic change in our involvement within these groups, which have taken years to cultivate into their current forms, is that America was being left behind. Trump has often spoken about China and other nations stealing our manufacturing jobs and winning deals, which resulted in our massive national debt. However, these isolationist policies appear to have had an inverse effect of what he has claimed for years. The aluminum tariffs and China’s retaliations have actually weakened our domestic economy.
According to the World Population Review, the United States has the largest GDP in the world at roughly $21 trillion. However this massive sum of money has not been enough to combat foreign tariffs. According to CNBC, the trade war can cost as much as $3.4 billion to American companies in just one month. This means that some of those companies have had to make large layoffs. Because of this, Trump’s trade policy has hurt exactly who he claimed it would help, and harmed our job market at large.
This is just one example of the real-world pain that isolationist trade policies have caused. Besides the financial reasons to promote more internationally-friendly trade deals, there are a few compelling social reasons as well. Primarily, isolationism and nationalistic pride harm the globalist society that has been flourishing more and more as time goes on. Trade, not just of commodities, but of ideas, helps to create a more unified globe. When countries are more involved with each other, people and culture can move more freely. This means that our collective research and knowledge will be better able to travel across borders. According to the popular research YouTube channel Kurzgesagt, this exchange of information could drastically improve quality of life around the world. Even if you think that, in the short term, isolationism can protect your nationalistic interests, it seems more likely that the market will benefit more from globalism.
Be First to Comment