Commentary: The TPP debate, or lack thereof

The absolute void of discussion about the free trade deal the United States helped to instigate is the height of hypocrisy, and sends worrying signals to our trading partners.    This isn’t about politics anymore. This is about an absolute void of discussion.
   This isn’t a left or right issue, it’s an issue of facts versus ignorance. Of the common good versus the affected few. The vocal minority versus the silent majority.
   Simply put, the lack of proper discourse about the United States ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping free trade agreement (FTA) between 12 Pacific Rim nations, is the worrying thing. There isn’t wrong-headed debate about the TPP – there’s no debate at all.
   Let’s put this lack of discussion in perspective. Arguing against global trade in 2016 is like arguing against technology. You can shout into the wind about what’s wrong about global trade, but here’s the thing: not only is global trade good for economies (including the U.S. economy), the horse is out of the barn.
   By failing to enact the TPP, the United States is sending dual worrying signals to the world. One, that is it closing its eyes to FTAs, both bilateral and multilateral. And two, that you can’t negotiate a trade deal with the United States in good conscience.
   Both are bad and hypocritical, since other signatories of the TPP once looked upon the United States as a shining model of free trade upon which to build their own developing economies. What happens when the model student starts becoming truant?
   The broader issue is that failing to ratify the TPP not only kills the deal, but also prevents the U.S. from planting a proactive flag in Asia. It keeps the United States from influencing those economies in a way that benefits the TPP as a whole, but also our trade interests.
   Of course there are things in the deal that aren’t perfect – imagine crafting a deal between 12 nations representing roughly 40 percent of global GDP and pleasing everyone on every issue. That would be impossible. The key is whether it benefits each signatory on the whole, and that threshold, by any reasonable economic measure, has been met.
   The problem is that, as National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay put it in an interview with CNBC, the deal is being submarined by the vocal minority. Yes, the deal would have an impact on some manufacturing sectors, but it would also reduce to nil duties on U.S. goods for other manufacturing sectors. But politicians submit to potential short-term job losses like I would in an MMA match.
   So let’s get back to the hypocrisy. The politicians on both sides of the aisle decrying the TPP are doing so because special interests have deemed it a job killer, as somehow kowtowing to corporate interests. Breaking news here: our economy already is based around the interests of corporations. Denying the existence of the TPP won’t change that, it will just create artificial cost barriers to goods we already import, and erode profit margin headaches for exporters looking to compete in other parts of the world. And it won’t impact jobs numbers.
   Failure to ratify the TPP won’t stop goods coming from China, but ratification could well provide a counterweight to China’s influence on the makeup of our imports. And this is where the hypocrisy really reveals itself.
   The politicians and social justice groups fighting against the TPP aren’t buying solely American-made goods or products sourced from “ethical” factories in developed nations. And in fact, the TPP would give the United States power to better ensure factories in other member nations are adhering to higher working conditions standards.
   No TPP = no influence over these issues.
   I’ll admit too that I’m a hypocrite on this issue as well. I tend to spend a pretty high proportion of my disposable income on products sourced in the United States. I like those products better but they’re more expensive. And yet I wouldn’t dare to stand in the way of other consumers who prioritize the cost of a good over its provenance. My hypocrisy doesn’t presume that in a globalized market, everyone should only buy goods made near them no matter the cost. My hypocrisy doesn’t hurt U.S. importers outside of a few lost sales. My hypocrisy doesn’t impact U.S. exporter competitiveness.
   A widespread return of the manufacturing of low cost, low value goods is not coming back to the United States, TPP or no TPP.
   With news that the TPP won’t be addressed by Congress until 2017 at the earliest, let’s get back to basics. It’s up to the trade community at large to get this back on the table as a discussion point, let alone a slam dunk.
   The Pacific Rim is watching and waiting.
   For more about the TPP, read American Shipper’s, “Editorial: Risk of a TPP takedown.”