Wall Street Journal (May 21)
There’s a reason “why so many countries are open to U.S.-led trade pacts, like TPP and its European counterpart, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. History shows the U.S. trade agenda, while far from perfect, has nevertheless provided sizable benefits to its partners.”
Washington Post (June 6)
Japan is not the only place where lawmakers find agreement elusive. In the U.S. “partisan deadlock over trade policy continues. If anything, it’s getting worse.” The current stumbling blocks are trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. “What’s especially maddening about all of this is that most Republicans and Democrats claim to agree on the benefits of the trade pacts,” yet there’s no clear sign that the parties will find common ground to break the impasse. “Determining the merits of this increasingly self-referential quarrel between the two parties would take 100 marriage counselors 100 years.”
Tags: Colombia, Democrats, Panama, Republicans, South Korea, Trade pacts, U.S.
