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posted by on Tuesday November 22 2016, @09:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the we're-going-back-to-bartering dept.

Donald Trump says he will issue an executive action on his first day in office to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In a video updating Americans on the White House transition, the President-elect described TPP as a "potential disaster for our country".

[...] Mr Trump said his administration instead intends to generate "fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores".

Sky Correspondent Greg Milam said: "Donald Trump has been very critical of what trade deals have done for American workers and the damage that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) did in the 1990s - particularly to low-income workers in the Midwest, who it turns out voted for Mr Trump in huge numbers."

Source: Sky News


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  • (Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Wednesday November 23 2016, @12:00PM

    by cubancigar11 (330) on Wednesday November 23 2016, @12:00PM (#431791) Homepage Journal

    There was a sufficient shortage of working men after WW2. What we are seeing is nothing but the natural balance being restored. During WW2 all European men with non-essential skills were sent to war and most were dead. Asia and Africa didn't have any skilled labor class due to its planned obliteration by western industrialists via colonialism. Russia for some reason didn't believe in free trade so its high quality products (and yeah, they were way way better in quality than anything produced in USA) were limited to countries aligned with its policy - the so called 2nd world countries. In that time, in that world, it was easy for Americans to work hard and get paid way above international average. American dream was achievable. In that world USA pushed for open markets and free trade agreements. American governments, both democrats and republicans, punished countries which safe-guarded home market and they pushed globalization (and democracy) everywhere.

    Now the world is back to where it used to be. End of USSR became curse in a disguise - people didn't need American protection anymore and there are only so many wars USA can start before its public demands - we don't want to die in foreign land for pointless wars. India and China (and very rapidly, Africa) have embraced capitalism and people buying western media, propaganda and life-style in the hegemonic order of globalization are demanding to participate in it on equal terms. People who were raised to believe that their culture is regressive and western liberal ideology is progressive, now think they are unfairly being asked to live in regressive culture by rise of protectionism in USA. Let's face it - the poor of USA are living better lives than middle class of many 3rd world countries - and it is not because of some innate greatness that is under attack, it is because of very specific condition after WW2 which left USA mostly undamaged are eol. The pendulum is swinging back to the center now. Nuclear proliferation is making wars between development oriented countries rare and globalized media makes most people chose a comfortable life over war.

    I, personally, do not understand how a modern country with high standards of living can compete with a developing nation that has tens of millions of disposable workers

    Indeed. May be if USA wouldn't have waged unwinnable "war on terror", the world wouldn't balk at the idea of a protectionist USA which still enforces globalization in other countries under threat. But most world now thinks that USA will avoid initiating WW3 and hence a protectionist USA is only going to contain the fallout to USA. Rest of the world will remain globalized and will continue to trade among itself. May be Chinese stuff will become expensive now that dollar wouldn't have much value. I am not sure. This is why easy legal immigration is the only savior of USA elite. The unemployed are just going to become poor.

    Their income is already carefully tuned to be sufficient only for the basic needs.

    No. You make the fatal yet common assumption that 'those' countries were always poor. They were not, and they are not going to remain poor. The 'other world' is not as static as you think.

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