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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_in_United_States_history#1980s_to_present https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_in_United_States_histor... Has a good 5 par

by lumost 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_in_United_States_history#1980s_to_present https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_in_United_States_histor... Has a good 5 paragraph summary of US Trade policy and its intentions from the 1980s to present. I've found the Perot, Bush, Clinton presidential debate of 1992 to be the most insightful as to the the state of public discourse on trade intentions at the end of the cold war. The topic of one-way trade deals featured prominently in this debate, the proposed solution that Clinton pitched was the "Knowledge Economy". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg7-QJrJZV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg7-QJrJZV0 For the Columbia free trade deal, this source provides useful context on the outstanding tariff levels prior to the most recent Free Trade deal. > Before the U.S.-Colombia FTA entered into force, the U.S. average tariff on Colombian goods was 3%, while Colombia's average tariff on U.S. goods was 12.5%. Prior to the agreement, about 90% of U.S. imports from Colombia came into the country duty-free under trade preference programs or through normal trade relations. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL34470.html#:~:text=Before%20the%20U.S.%2DColombia%20FTA%20entered%20into%20force%2C%20the%20U.S.,or%20through%20normal%20trade%20relations https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL34470.html#:~:text=....

crazygringo 5y ago
Thanks, that's helpful. Across all those sources, though, I can't find anything indicating that deindustrialization was a goal. Even the Wikipedia article which has a whole section on it seems to present it as a side effect, while Clinton's talk about the "knowledge economy" is framed as it being an area of economic opportunity. And I found the debate transcript [1] (it was a famous one for the "giant sucking sound"!) -- and Bush is arguing for increased exports (which means greater US manufacturing), while Clinton is explicitly arguing that other countries need to be as open to trade as we are. So if anything, Bush appears to be pro-manufacturing, and Clinton is against one-way trade deals. And your Colombia example would show that then -- if it was a one-way trade deal, it's to benefit American manufacturers rather than consumers. So I still don't see where a shifting employment away from manufacturing was a goal anywhere. Is there something else I'm missing? [1] https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/16/us/the-1992-campaign-transcript-of-2d-tv-debate-between-bush-clinton-and-perot.html https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/16/us/the-1992-campaign-tran...

by lumost 5y ago

crazygringo 5y ago

Thanks, that's helpful. Across all those sources, though, I can't find anything indicating that deindustrialization was a goal. Even the Wikipedia article which has a whole section on it seems to present it as a side effect, while Clinton's talk about the "knowledge economy" is framed as it being an area of economic opportunity. And I found the debate transcript [1] (it was a famous one for the "giant sucking sound"!) -- and Bush is arguing for increased exports (which means greater US manufacturing), while Clinton is explicitly arguing that other countries need to be as open to trade as we are. So if anything, Bush appears to be pro-manufacturing, and Clinton is against one-way trade deals. And your Colombia example would show that then -- if it was a one-way trade deal, it's to benefit American manufacturers rather than consumers. So I still don't see where a shifting employment away from manufacturing was a goal anywhere. Is there something else I'm missing? [1] https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/16/us/the-1992-campaign-transcript-of-2d-tv-debate-between-bush-clinton-and-perot.html https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/16/us/the-1992-campaign-tran...