I’m working on a international economics discussion question and need an explanation to help me learn.
R1
The TPP is the trans-pacific partnership that involves 11 different countries that all agree to trade goods with one another. Although in 2018 President Donald Trump decided to withdrawal the United States from this agreement. This type of agreement reduced tariffs and expands products and goods for particular countries. This is mainly an opportunity for countries to be able to get different goods into their country without having to pay the full price. Instead they are able to trade these goods in for items they create.
The downside about TPP is that high income workers are really the only ones that are able to succeed the most. As well as when a country sees this opportunity to make products that will get them profit, it causes the country to not even think about the impact on the environment when it comes to the producing the product. This can lead to huge negative impacts on our planet that won’t look good in the future.
References:
Amadeo, K. (2021, May 20). How the TPP Lives on Without the United States. The Balance. com/what-is-the-trans-pacific-partnership-3305581.”>https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-trans-pacific-partnership-3305581.
R2
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), was a huge trade agreement made among twelve countries, including the United States, and compromised 40% of the total global economy (McBride et al., 2021). The main controversies around the agreement seem to have been related to the pushback against globalization (Krugman et al., 2018), and that the agreement was not actually set in stone and thus not exactly enforceable. While it would have expanded United States trade and investment abroad, lowered consumer prices, created new jobs, and much more, many felt that there would be a decline in United States manufacturing, wages would fall, and inequality would increase (McBride et al., 2021). After the United States pulled out of the agreement on a whim, the eleven remaining countries got together and aligned on the CPTPP.
Trade deals, regardless of the size and what nation the deals are made with, have both positives and negatives, depending on a number of factors. Take NAFTA for example. In theory, free trade makes both trading partners better off, however in practice, there are frequently winners and losers as a result of the deal. In the case of NAFTA, the perceived negative was the movement of jobs from the United States to Mexico, which many companies did (and still do) to take advantage of cheaper labor and materials costs. The United States is better off making trade agreements than starting pointless trade wars for the sake of looking better than our trading partners, that’s for sure.
As for whether policymakers can ensure that trade agreements benefit all citizens, I really don’t think so. Like any compromise, someone is going to receive the short end of the stick, and in the case of trade agreements, each side has to be willing to give up something – which will impact at least some citizens negatively in some form.
References
Krugman, P. R., Obstfeld, M., & Melitz, M. (2018). International economics: theory and policy (11th ed.). Pearson.
McBride, J., Chatzky, A., & Siripurapu, A. (2021, February 1). What’s Next for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)? Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp
R3
TPP is the Trans-Pacific Partnership; it would simplify customs regulations and eliminate tons of taxes from other countries placed on American goods. It also helps American workers with other countries stopping to providing unfair subsidies towards their government-owned businesses. Another thing is would give a minimum wage requirement and prohibited child labor along with other illegal things like wildlife trafficking. The reason it is so controversial is that people do not know if they want the trade to be driven by American rules and values or by someone else rules and values like China. Free trade agreements impact the United States by making it helps to have more affordable items and additional income in American’s pockets. The U.S. is better off with those agreements because before businesses undercutting Americans and companies was had fewer workers but producing more and also moving factories overseas with jobs. We live in a global supply chain so stop trading it not possible by negotiating it can be easier to not have unfair tariffs on American goods. Policymakers would have to make different types of agreements since not everything would be covered in one contract. Also, they could not think about certain things since the agreement could be only about one certain industry (Quora, 2016).
Reference:
Quora. (2016, October 27). Why Is The TPP So Controversial? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/10/27/why-is-the-tpp-so-controversial/?sh=2a367bde5eb3.
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