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U.S. Trade Rep. Bob Lighthizer has spent the last few weeks trying to construct a narrative about the Trump/Lighthizer legacy on trade. I respond to some of his arguments here:
https://ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2021/01/the-trumplighthizer-legacy-on-trade.html
Here's a thread about it. 1/
https://ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2021/01/the-trumplighthizer-legacy-on-trade.html
Here's a thread about it. 1/
Lighthizer says Biden didn't run against Trump's trade policy, but that's clearly wrong. Here's Biden: "Trump doesn't get the basics. He thinks his tariffs are being paid by China."; "Trump is attacking the very partners we need with us to deal with China." 2/
Lighthizer says the Trump administration didn't start any trade wars. We could quibble about what's a trade war and who started it, but Section 232 is the obvious example of a trade war started by the Trump administration. 3/
Lighthizer claims the Trump administration was the first to recognize the threat from China, but it seems to me that Obama's "pivot to Asia" and constant reminder that "we should write the rules instead of letting China write them" already had us on the current path. 4/
Lighthizer says US trade policy is now more oriented towards workers, but it's really only a few industries who were favored, with workers overall not doing so well. 5/
Lighthizer says Trump "got elected" on the issue of trade, but he lost to Hillary Clinton in the popular vote, and then got trounced by Joe Biden in both the popular vote and electoral college. Based on that, I’m not sure protectionism is a political winner. 6/
Lighthizer says the proliferation of WTO disputes has undermined WTO negotiations, but I think the blame goes to the many governments who simply aren't willing to liberalize in their sensitive areas. 7/
So what is the Trump/Lighthizer legacy on trade? Maybe it is this: For the foreseeable future, the Trump administration's trade policy will provide everyone a long list of examples of things not to do. End/
