This is like the arsonist fire fighters you hear so much in the news. They set your house on fire, attempt to put it out when the damage done and claim credit
3
The headline implies that a Trump deal will look like an Obama deal, but then goes on to explain that it will not include the highlyobjectionable trade court, which required America to cede a significant amount of its sovereignty to private corporations, exempting them from the formal court system which has dispensed justice ever since our country was born. That’s a major difference right there.
1
Hopefully, we won’t end up with a European version of SHAFTA.
1
Where is Congress? Out to breakfast lunch and dinner.
1
Stop spreading this nonsense. Obama was taking America down the drain and now things are GETTING MUCH BETTER!
1
Oh, yea. For whom?
Lunatic nonsense. Debased hit from trump's koolade korner.
5
@Nreb
Any concrete example ... ?
2
Trump shows his stupidity by not letting negotiators do this work. Its beneath office of President.
Just stay at golf course so as not to create daily chaos
5
https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/trumps-deal-with-the-eu-is-democrat-nigh...
Wow!
What exactly would the Times and its “experts” do about the broken WTO and the Chinese abuse of the trade system?
And don’t tell me TPP! Having destroyed 5 Million American jobs yo enrich Chinese billionaires, the plant is to destroy another 5 Million American jobs to help Vietnamese, Korean, and Filipino billionaires?
The American elite are traitors to the American people. And their positions on trade proves it.
2
I am à European born US citizen. Visiting Europe now, it is amusing to see the media reporting on how Junker the EU chief (who is more usually derided as a not very effective euro politics dinosaur and an alcoholic) manipulated Trump in the recent trade talks that resulted in an apparent truce. Euro chiefs, the media say, share the tricks to get what one wants out of Trump: discount his attacks as pure theatrics, flatter tons, let him say he won ‘big’. Presume the Chinese, North-Koreans, Iranians share the same view, if they care. He’s really reestablished our standing on the global scene.
2
"And the various national governments in the 28-member bloc may have a tough time influencing their purchases."
Don't kid yourself those governments won't have any problems in coercing private companies to purchase the Soybeans from the US. In order to protect the German auto and auto parts industries nothing will stand that might stall the lifting of the tariffs.
There's only one problem with the story.... It's woefully slanted. Of course these issues have been discussed for many years, with no solution. However, as reported in the wall street journal, but obviously contrary to the spin here, Mr. Junker is quoted as saying, "we were never in a position to agree on these main elements before."
1
The anatomy of a Trump "win": undo something Obama put in place, put it back in place, and claim victory. Sad. Bigly sad.
9
Trump and his secretaries really behave like teenagers, not realizing that there are grown-ups in the world who have a bit more knowledge than they do. They really are an embarrassment to the US, and Trump is doing anything but making America great again. He is turning your lovely country into a joke and the rest of the world is seriously considering looking elsewhere for solid partners as no one feels he can trust Trump.
9
I bet a small group of EU advisors got together, dust off the agreements they started with the Obama administration and commented to themselves: “Lets present this to Trump. He will not noticed”, and he didn’t.
7
I wonder how much Trumps narcissism is costing the US tax payer?
4
You have to be kidding.
Unfortunately Obamas trade negotiations or a total failure.
Trump is not a thoughtful negotiator or problem solver, he is a bully and a manipulator. Diplomacy and fair and open discussions is not what this man is about. That is why the people in his business circles had and have such disdain for him.
6
Trump again solves a crisis of his own making at great expense to citizens. His base is going down in history as the dumbest ever and I think we have to thank the weaponization of the 1st Amendment and FOX for that. 2 things I wish were more emphasized by mainstream news media; climate change and the influence of oligarchs in our quickly eroding democracy. We skip from breaking news event to breaking news event, while these two strong currents underneath are continuous and powerfully bearing us along.
13
Once again, Trump shows that he is the guy who sets fire to a building, then puts out the fire, and wants credit for putting out the fire.
He is that guy who will shoot you, then dress your wound, put a tourniquet on you, take you to the emergency room, and then want credit for saving your life.
Trump is that guy who will push you off a boat, make sure you don't come up out of the water, dive into the water, pull you out, give you CPR, and then want credit for saving you from drowning.
Need I go on? No, but Trump will continue this pattern of creating problems out of thin air, then crowing about how he solved the problem. So sad!
7
My advise to the Europeans....DO NOT TRUST THIS ADMINISTRATION!
6
Jean-Claude Juncker is a mature diplomat who much prefers principled engagement, even with clowns like Trump.
At the end of the day, I envision a far fairer playing field for American manufacturers. Meanwhile, I envision that many people who loathe Trump will run in circles, scream and shout.
They much prefer that Trump lose than that America goods producers win. Sad but true.
How disappointing that Ana Swanson and Jack Ewing seem unable - or unwilling - to distinguish between “a crisis of his own making” and a trade negotiation, one which appears to be bearing fruit. Many commentators are similarly mistaking Trump’s tough negotiating strategy, disruptive of conventional - so often tepid and ineffectual - past practice, as crisis provoking rather than as a catalyst of productive outcomes.
6
@dgfitzgerald: Any productive outcome, pubic benefit, positive negotiation or coherence that comes out of Trump is purely coincidental; collateral damage from his overt damage, if you will. He has no strategy and is, most assuredly, not a leader of any merit.
4
Such tortured logic. A few minor modifications and this could easily be an Onion article.
Hey, Midwest Trump supporters!
Have you started wondering why Trump is touting the trade deal for Natural Gas, driving another dozen nails in the coffin of the Coal industry?
9
Great title for the article! Because it's....true! Donald thinks he's "all that and a bag of beans" but he has no clue about how trade nor how our economy functions!
Today the media is reporting the economy grew at 4.1%, first time since .....2014! In 2014, Pres. Obama was president.
But....just wait and see what Donald's trade war will do to our economy!
2
Obama's Strategy Vindicated. That should be the headline.
20
Anyone familiar with trade negotiations knows how difficult it is to make a deal. US/EU have been negotiating a trade deal for years without any significant result.
Then, Trump gets into the action and threaten EU's imports with high tariffs.
Jean-Claude Juncker comes to the White House, 'negotiate' with Trump and... voila! an agreement is sealed. According to Trump, “this was a very big day for free and fair trade, a very big day indeed.”
A precise definition of Junker/Trump's negotiation deal was given by a French diplomat. When asked what did the deal amount to, he answered “talks about talks.”
Trump negotiation style is becoming a laughstock among diplomatic circles.
29
I would love it if any and all former Obama Administration trade officials involved in the previous European negotiations would come out and robustly assert the theme of this piece. Perhaps they could call the Fake President's current efforts "Obama 2.0". It will drive the narcissist Trump crazy, or further crazed.
11
Obama was President for 8 years. He didn't get it done. Negotiations for a possible deal are not a deal; you don't get don't get 6 points for almost scoring a touchdown.
2
Actually Obama did "get it done"....as Bloomberg News reports today "the U.S. economy grew 4.1% for the first time since 2014." Obama was president at the time, and his policies had dug the U.S. out of the Great Recession!
2
Next he'll want to rejoin the TPP, as long as it's not called the TPP. Then maybe he'll try to revive the Iran nuclear deal. Or Trumpcare.
7
The Trans Pacific Partnership was a give away of U.S. sovereignty under the guise of a trade deal.
The whole thing was negotiated in secret with lawyers for global corporations in secret.
The only provisions we know are the ones that were leaked. The agreement even called for the deal to remaina secret until three months after it as signed.
One of the most important provisions is Investor Dispute Settlement, which would give corporations the right to sue countries for regulations passed into law. They would be able to sue for the profits they "would have made," if legislation protecting workers, consumers, or the environment had not been passed. These suits would not take place in U.S. courts, but in transnational "tribunals" run by corporate lawyers.
Why would anyone that claims to want to protect workers, consumers and the environment (like Democrats) want to give global corporations, that put profits above all, the power to undermine those regulations in global tribunals?
I never see comments that assert these provisions are not in the TPP, or argue that these provisions are a good thing. This article doesn't mention them either. Those that support TPP just seem to accept letting transnational organizations overturn our laws as business as usual. It is not.
Until Democrats realize that Trump's lies work because Democrats have taken on too many Republican assumptions (like unregulated free trade is the only way to globalize) Democrats will continue to lose elections.
5
I guess we were supposed to have read the fine print. Trump ending the trans Atlantic trade negotiations was a good thing for the wrong reasons (ego). It also seems that these “trade agreements” never seem to include representatives of labor unions. The NYT ignoring the potential lawsuits against countries for labor protection practices is particularly notable. Kind of like selling you a car based on it’s 0-60 speed yet neglecting to mention that the brakes don’t work! Trade agreements have been disastrous for labor on both sides. These trade rip offs contribute to international income equality which continues despite reports reports of economic gains. Trump is the clumsy, destructive bull in the China shop. The EU has already desecrated its national sovereignties and we’re supposed to follow suit? How about governments telling “the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” Bad for business?
1
@McGloin. TTIP is not the same as TTP-- the cover two different regions (Atlantic vs. Pacific) and totalky different trade partners. Obama was working on both before the wrecking ball in chief scuttled everything just out of spite.
1
What comes to mind on reading the article and then Luettgen's comment is the old adage ....shooting yourself in the foot! trumpy's preferred strategy. Too bad it is our collective foot in the crosshairs.
2
Even if he tries to follow Obama's path he may find the loss of good will that Obama had will make negotiations more difficult. Trump is rightly despised by EU nations so any appearance of concessions to him will be extremely unpopular.
23
Exactly, here in Belgium, it's already starting.
Obama was very popular here, and Trump's popularity couldn't be lower.
As a consequence, the Belgian government already declared today that Belgium will continue to refuse GMOs as long as science is unable to prove that it won't be harmful in the long run, including when it comes to American soy beans.
Juncker's press conference had people worried that Trump would now force Europe to adopt the same scandalous EPA policies that he's forcing America to adopt, so local governments here were quick to remember that each and every EU country has the right to disagree with Juncker and Trump, and will do so when it comes to basic values such as water and air safety.
They also reiterated their intention to NOT gut Europe's high-performing social security and labor protection laws system, and to refuse any race to the bottom that Trump might propose.
What people want here is deals that lift other populations out of poverty, rather than savage globalist capitalism that proposes zero tariffs and subsidies so that the wealthiest elites can dislocate their companies to those places on earth where local governments/dictatorships can impose horrible working and living conditions.
They want trade agreements that benefit all citizens of the countries signing the agreement, based on proven facts and science, rather than destroying both American and European jobs through "free trade" deals among global elites, as Trump is now proposing ...
1
And just how much did Europe lower its tariffs under Saint Obama?
5
@Don Garner
1. Nowhere in this article it Obama's free trade deal described as being good for the US or Europe, so why are you calling Obama a saint ... ?
2. All you have to do to know how much Europe and the US would lower tariffs under the deal that the Obama administration was finalizing, is to click on the link in this article ... . Compare that with Trump's zero tariff idea: there is NO concrete proposal AT ALL ...
3. Candidate Trump told us - correctly - that the globalist free trade agenda of centrist in both political parties were extremely bad for American workers, as production costs in China and other emerging countries/dictatorships are much lower than in the US, so global free trade cannot but destroy American jobs here at home.
After just one conversation with Juncker, however, he already completely flip-flopped, and now wants to be even more globalist than the globalist elite in DC, proposing ZERO tariffs and subsidies to protect American workers. How come that no Trump supporter is showing his outrage here, and instead continues to blindly defend no matter what Trump tweet ... ??
4
Saint? Please! Obama took over from Dubya during the Great Recession! By the time, Donald took office in 2017, he inherited ROBUST U.S. economy!
Lastly, Donald's trade war has cost American tax payers, over twelve billion, in farm aid to American farmers whose markets have closed up!
2
Yes, and if we all stop saying "Obamacare" and start calling it Trumpcare, he won't keep trying to kill that either.
It's the narcissism, people.
24
It's not the Obama era feel but the midterm election blues coupled with the outrage of the workers, farmers, consumers and the business that's forcing Trump to buy peace with the EU on the trade front.
8
Set a fire, put out a fire, claim you are a hero. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
How about doing the same with the ACA? When is that fire going to be put out? Hopefully that’s the next one.
19
You hit the nail right on the head. Typical pyromaniac behavior with a great need for recognition and pats on the back. I wonder how long the con is going to work with the so called ‘base’.
1
The silliest headline of the day.
There is absolutely no comparison. Trump has got the Europeans' attention, and they are under intense pressure to follow through. Substantively, Obama's position may have been similar to Trump's, but he personally was to feckless and languid to get any results
The headline is the same as the sour grapes over the amazing developments in the Korean peninsula. Nick Kristof argued that Trump would settle for a face-saving deal that would allow him to declare victory. Boy was he wrong.
5
@Ian Maitland
Except that the exact same deal was about to be signed by Europe, remember?
All that Trump did was delaying, so that he could call it his deal.
And nothing has been agreed upon yet, whereas his strategy to first seriously hurt our best allies clearly destroyed trust, so makes the possibility of a deal less likely.
By the way, you also seem to have forgotten just why it was that candidate Trump rejected this kind of Obama policies?
He - correctly - denounced them globalist free trade deals, and proposed to replace them with protectionist, higher tariff based deals.
Just ONE visit from Juncker, and now he flip-flops 100% and wants zero tariffs and no protections AT ALL for American workers.
How come you guys don't even notice the flip-flop and simply write comments that defend no matter what he says nor does ... ??
6
Under Obama, though he was talking so many deals, almost all of them ended favoring others or it failed to materialize. Iran deal, Paris Climate deal, and Cuban deal were the ones that favored others. Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific deals were the two deals that were not materialized. Just because Obama was talking, doesn't mean that Trump has the same approach.
3
@Alex E So, you would believe the arsonist firefighter, with his grand and great business acumen, will be any more successful?
As the piece states, it remains to be seen if the announcement turns into a signed trade pact.
In the meantime, Trump will tweet he changed his mind, again, and the tariffs are on for some stupid reason.
4
Hmm, yeah, well, I guess so.
But I wouldn't waste too much time trying to intelligently analyze anything Donald Trump does.
And to do so, it leads to false rumors that he actually thinks.
15
OMG! He’s doing what Obama did! You can be sure the next tweet will be about how he’s doing what Obama failed at. But it’s a good angle for Democrats to work- the tariffs failed so he reverted to Obama policy.
17
First Trump causes chaos and fear, stirring up a lot of trouble ( and headlines). Then he rides in as the savior on a white horse claiming his tactics, his bully tactic deal making, was successful. Got it.
25
This, America, is called, "deja vu already".
3
He loves to come to the rescue in crises of his own making, playing the roles of both hero and villain.
22
Can’t even give Trump credit for this, can you? News analysis as weaponized ideology.
Trump offered a gambit that sought several wins – establish a salient into discussions on highly complex and emotionally-charged issues for which he only possessed leverage on trade, weathering the storm as he did from our own left in an emotional excess of #NeverTrumpishness – on trade fairer to us, on more appropriate contributions to our shared defense through NATO, even on a more balanced version of the Paris Accords, a more relevant “Iran Deal” and a better attitude toward Israel.
Now all this, for which Trump paid dearly to get to this point where all of it could succeed … was somehow Obama’s idea. What a joke.
“It is possible that Mr. Trump has changed the political calculus for Europeans. They are frightened by the prospect of escalating tariffs with their largest trading partner.” One certainly hopes so. The gambit taken, offered as it was relying on that very concern, was intended to compel resolutions on all these other issues because Europe doesn’t WANT to discuss them. Without the application of that trade leverage, they WOULDN’T. And this is only the very beginning of the process.
And that was OBAMA’S intent with the TTIP?
Giveth me a break.
8
They'll make cosmetic changes so he can claim he's better than Obama. And unfortunately, the gullible people like yourself, we'll buy it. And where is his beautiful health care plan that's supposed to be better than Obama's?
12
@Richard Luettgen
News flash sir. The majority of us who get our news from legitimate sources, such as the NYT, are aware of the negotiations that were ongoing with the EU when Donald J. Trump cut them off with his smug smirk and an EO when he took office. When he met with the EU and proceeded to act like an ignorant lower extremity, he claimed he offered the EU a no tariffs deal and they said no; falsehood of course.
The EU was stunned that he was offering the same deal he had cut short some 14 mths ago. Trump is so narcissistic he is willing to destroy the American and global economies so that he gets credit for fixing them. That's not brilliance; it's just plain sick.
10
Not sure your paying close enough attention. Trump, facing a major revolt from Republicans in Congress, farmers, and manufacturers and fall elections, first pleads for patience and then resurrects a policy discussion he had obanded to buy time to get pass the elections. These negotiations will go no where because they fail to give him a platform for the smug disruption that is his preferred style and gains him the deplorable vote.
8
Trump will play "nice" until Nov 7, that is, after the mid-terms. Then he will start again with his nonsense. The Times and the rest fo the MSM need to learn to ignore Trump and his underlings' outbursts.
13
Strange, trump is so against free trade he wants to cancel NAFTA and he squashed the TPP however now he is all for free trade with the EU. The guy is like a tumbleweed blowing in the wind!!!
26
You see?
Trump only did what Obama wanted to do and would have done if he was competent.
So Trump deserves no credit at all.
Plus, he’s racist.
21
The President (and his backers ) are trying to pick winners (themselves) and losers (everyone else) with the taxpayer's money.
It is as simple as that.
If the new republican taxes (tariffs) start hurting the ''base'' then the administration/President simple use taxpayer money ( in the tens of billions ) to create carve outs or exemptions.
Meanwhile many people in this administration/backers have essentially insider trading and are already maneuvering around various stock exchanges, shorting or longing stocks as necessary.
Nary a pundit or reporter alike are looking at this.
23
Except they don't have to try, as they make the rules, by proxy and directly, as planned, affecting worldwide economic conditions, all markets, products and production, opening the door to all market opportunity, before occurrance.
In the very brief history of our nation, especially after WW1 through the present day, I believe the only President, who had a genuine, likely innate, empathism. was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Sr., an astute leader in all respects, wealthy as well. who recognized that a populace, seeing that they were allowed, and encouraged, to be economically vested, through the actions of government, in their own future, this populace pulls together, and works together for the successful future of their families and the nation as a whole.
The absence of real investigative journalism, focused on the reality that the Trumps, and their real money backers, on this planet, seek and secure powerful leadership roles in corporate governance, and national governance, not because of a desire to improve for the better the effect such governance has on consumers and the masses, but specifically to continue to win the myraid battles they wage in their eternal war to ensure their dominance, economically, strategically, and militarily, this absence speaks volumes about how the agenda of the 1%ters is protected by a complicit media, the perception management arm of corporate / national government.
Make no mistake, we are now economic slaves, in an Orwellian dystopia.
1
Yes, what took the NY Times so long to see this ?
I will just repost on what I posted previously
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/world/europe/donald-trump-us-eu-trade...
Woof
NY July 26
There is NO deal, only a truce, and hence nothing to trust or not.
Kindly note:
1. The agreed upon negotiations will be limited to industrial products only
2. They will possible cover a possible agreement on some norm and standards (used frequently by both the EU and US to limit trade, see GMO soybeans mentioned)
3. Tariffs on cars will NOT be covered (postponed indefinitely at this point).
4. Also excluded from the upcoming talks are agriculture, media , cultural products such as TV shows, media , moves
MOST IMPORTANTLY
5. There is NO time table for the negotiation in the agreement
Mr. Juncker may claim that he "made a deal" but no deal was made. Nor can Mr. Juncker state that the " EU " will import more soybeans. The EU has no mechanism to force its members to import a particular product.
At best, this is truce that might lead to negotiate a light version of the TTIP, an agreement for which President Obama called in his State of the Union address 2013.
5
@Woof
The reason the U.S. has a hard time exporting agricultural products like soybeans to Europe is that Europe does not let in Genetically Modified Organisms. (GMOs). The U.S. government and its agriculture businesses were will aware of this fact as they sold their souls to Monsanto, which now controls genetically modified seeds worldwide (instead of the farmers who controlled seeds for the previous ten thousand years),
If we want to export agricultural products to Europe, we should grow stuff Europeans want to eat, and they don't want GMOs.
24
Trump is not sophisticated to say the least. He uses an ax for all transactions. It has worked some of the time in his past, so he keeps on trying. But frequently he has to back-up from his ax approach and that is what we see here. There is rarely a plan or evidence of careful thought. Sometimes the ball go's into the pocket and sometimes not. Our allies need to be very careful of how they react to this ax-retract approach. If they feel so much relief at his back-up, they could encourage this same ax approach in the future. You should not run a country like ours with a punishment/reward system used to train animals. Let's hope the future for Trump is short.
13
Europeans don’t worry just buy our Round-Up bleached GMO agricultural products and enjoy them. You’re kids won’t be born with six fingers rest assured. You all may pass away a decade sooner but think of all the social services your governments will avoid spending on you.
2
Proof that this president has no clue what he is doing, no back up plan and no thought process of a president
This calls into question every decision made, ( along with the lying that supports it ) as Trump’s presidency continues to decline and fail.
12
It pains me to say it... but Jeb was spot on.
A chaos president.
He creates his own catastrophe and then claims to be a hero when it implodes, he caves or the plan falls apart - or all of the above.
Not results just bluster, incompetence and more tweets.
Wait to US tax payers see their tax bills for this year based on the tax cut bill passed by the GOP. Economists and accountants know what is coming.
DJT doesn’t!
Speaking of taxes..
29
@Is_the_audit_over_yet
Its called the Shock Doctrine, a phrase coined by U.S. economists doing it to other countries, as thoroughly documented by Naomi Klein.
The book is a decade old, but still indispensable reading if you want to understand Trump and global politics.
Mr Trump clearly has no idea how to do his job. He’s a loud and bungling opportunist who doesn’t understand healthcare, foreign policy, trade, diplomacy,budget, environment, infrastructure, immigration, education, history or any of the complex and sensitive issues that must be weighed in on a president’s watch. Yet in his campaign, all of these things were “Easily fixed. And only I can fix them.” These things were never really broken. and America was already great. Now, one by one, these things have become broken and the only path back is to fall back on agreements and legislature that was already in place - put there by his very worthy and patriotic predecessors. He has done his best to discredit the legitimate free press, the people’s watchdog in our country’s affairs. He sows chaos because he has no clear path nor pure vision outside of self-enrichment and the need to pay back the people and businesses who support his irresponsible presidency. Never have we seen such a threat to our democratic experiment. Never have I seen a president who is incapable of identifying our country’s enemies and is willing to malign our allies in the quest of his own personal agenda. I yield to Mr. Mueller and the system of governmental checks and balances to provide a solution to this assault on decency and integrity. Please waste no time in restoring America’s place in the world. We’ve taken a wrong turn and we need help to put ourselves back on the good road.
15
Just to clarify one lesson from this Trump administration, the government should require a written test for understanding more than how to balance a checkbook, and 'um yeah the idea of America represents Liberty for All. Note, there will be trick questions (sad!)
2
So candidate Trump based his entire campaign on wanting to fight "free trade globalists" in both parties, but as a president he now promises to:
1. essentially take over Obama's free trade projects,
2. except that he'll make them much worse for ordinary citizens both in the US and Europe by trying to force Europe to imitate his own disastrous EPA and labor policies, which the vast majority of citizens in America and the EU strongly reject (for obvious reasons).
That means that he will INTENSIFY the global race to the bottom that globalists all over the world are already trying to accelerate, all while making the wealthiest global elites even wealthier.
Is there a third way, which allows us to avoid both a horrible trade war and the kind of horrible free trade deals that Trump now fully supports?
Yes. It's precisely what Obama tried to do (although imperfectly) with the TTP. It means moving a bit into the direction of more free trade (= lower tariffs and subsidies) all while INCREASING labor protection laws in emerging economies, which have such low production costs (and as a consequence destroy jobs in the West because of outsourcing etc.) precisely because local laws allow companies to treat workers horribly.
Instead of a race to the bottom, this is a very specific form of protectionism, in the sense that the deal includes measures forcing all governments to treat workers better, all while increasing trade/jobs.
But that's an option Trump doesn't even think about...
6
@Ana Luisa
Mr. Obama didn´t get through because his distinct "America First" demands were unacceptable for Europeans. He didn´t shift away from this for years. So no agreement could be hammered out.
Do you really think Mr. Trumps demands will be more acceptable for Europeans?
If so - wonderful. Then Mr. Trump could make a decent deal and enjoy all adolations. If not - no way. Same procedure as last years. More of the Obama era in this regard. If Mr. Altmaier might flip Wallonie will not. (You remember CETA? That´s what EU is for.)
I would bet my Dollars on "If not".
But I woiuld not bet my Euros because it´s Mr. Trump, so you can never know.
1
@Ana Luisa
The TPP is a bad deal. It gives global corporations the right to sue governments for regulations that protect workers, consumers, and the environment.
The fact that the TPP is a bad deal will be proven when Trump declares it fixed and signs it.
The current world trading system, designed by the neocon-neoliberals who are trying to replace the nation state with global corporations, is not the best way to globalize. Just because they keep saying it is the only way to globalize does not make it true. Trump won because the Democratic Party keeps putting global corporations above U.S. citizens and sovereignty because Republicans told them to.
If trade is not fair, then it is only free for the 1%.
Corporations were originally chartered by our government to return gains to the government, the community, the workers, the consumers, the shareholders, and other stakeholders. Now they are only interested in profits for shareholders and treat the government as if they chartered it. A corporation is not a citizen and until we stop treating them as such, they will continue to weaken or governments and people.
The interests of global corporations are not aligned with U.S. citizens. The job of the government is to protect citizens not corruptions and the global investors that own them, know ME oil princes or Chinese and Russian oligarchs.
Trump is a global billionaire with global corporate interests. That is why he is attacking our trading partners; to weaken nations.
@McGloin
These clauses were incorporated in TTIP draft (European TTP) also.
This was one of the main reasons many European countries refused to sign because initiating arbitration and proceeding should be ruled by institutions dominated by US. It had been assumed for good reasons that this had led to a bias in favor of USA in the past.
All your arguments were the arguments why many Europeans declined TTIP also. To outline their position you have to wipe out "US" and set in "European". The wording is the same then.
Trump apologists are saying that he's going for the end of all trade barriers with the EU. Trump himself has thrown out that idea.
One barrier to this vision is that the EU has some very protectionist provisions for agricultural products. Some kinds of farming are a valued part of the culture of some EU nations and they see a benefit that has nothing to do with efficiency or low prices.
Another barrier is the commitment in Europe to protecting consumers from genetically modified products. Whether that commitment is rational can be questioned, but a lot of Europeans don't want to be eating GM products.
There are other ways that the EU is more committed to protecting consumers than is the US. Other approaches to protection involve the environment. Would it be good for the world to give up those protections?
If Trump believes he "won" the battle with the EU, he is likely to try to bully his way to new trade agreements. If his supporters believe that his "strategy" is working, they will be more willing to accept the results of that trade war.
3
Trump has had many meeting with world leaders. Look at three: Kim, Putin, and Juncker. Each one bested Donald. Few Americans may recognize Juncker's name, but he's well known to all EU watchers--and what a great job he did coaxing the member states away from their protectionist national import duties (tariffs). The Common Agriculture Policy is hardly perfect, but it made Coal and Steel agreements look like child's play. Brash bullying doesn't equate with sophisticated negotiating, as Trump is finding out.
9
Good. I hope Trump replicates the mirroring with Obamacare as Obama suggested (maybe he is) and take credit for all of it. If the president's ego feels safe, we might get somewhere.
It has always been in the USA's best interest go to the zero tariffs and trade barriers. Trump finally understood his job is to lead the biggest economy in the world and opening markets will make it grow.
2
@Aurace Rengifo
If protecting your family a bad thing? Is protecting your home a bad thing? Is protecting your community a bad thing?
I read Adam Smith. I have a degree in math and (capitalist) economics. I am for trade and against "protectionism," in general.
But when you take a good thing to extremes, it becomes a bad thing.
Europeans are smart to protect themselves from genetically modified foods. It is smart t to make sure that "Idaho potatoes" are grown in Idaho.
We should have prosecuted our steel industries (investing taxes in them would be better than using tariffs) and we should have protected American manufacturing employees, instead of shipping U.S. capital and the jobs that went with them to other countries.
Some things are worth protecting and if you fall into the propaganda pushed by the neoliberal neocons you will sacrifice everything to the god of "unfettered free trade," while China makes major investments in itself that pushes it ahead while we gut our own country.
The current globalization regime is not balanced. It gives all advantages to global corporations at the expense of nations, workers, consumers, and the environment.
It's globalization were working, Trump would not be president. Globalization that does not put humans above machinery and the billionaires that own it is why Americans don't get raises.
Tax cuts and mass deregulation do not fit the definition of "natural advantage."
Protect your community.
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That the trade pact will exclude agricultural products is a huge concession to the Europeans, who resisted the importation of G.M.O.s and other whatnots from the U.S. which previous negotiations seemed to about to allow.
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@abo
The U.S. does not have the right to force Europeans to eat Genetically Modified Organisms. Why don't we sup growing GMOs?
This president is talking zero tariffs across the board, zero subsidies.
So no crony-capitalism, no picking winners and losers.
This is the anti-Obama agenda.
Wait until the growth numbers come out today. The lefts’ exploding heads is going to be a sight to see.
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@Cjmesq0 The GDP figures are expected to be large enough to reflect the rush to import stuff from China ahead of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. To quote one publication, "Trump’s trade war sped up U.S. exports in the second quarter as China and other countries rushed to snap up American soybeans and other products ahead of impending tariffs, lifting growth in ways likely to be reversed in the coming months."
The zero tariffs on cars and car parts were not discussed with Junker. To quote another publication, "Trump now appears to adhere to the popular belief that if car tariffs were scrapped to zero — and products were to compete on merit — that would not necessarily mean fewer Mercedeses and BMWs on American roads but, heaven forbid, possibly even MORE."
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No matter what he does or what the numbers are there will always be criticism from the left with no apparent answer other than we do not like Trump. Sounds like the left needs to read Green Eggs and Ham.
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@Cjmesq Zero tariffs by themselves mean little: countries can still manipulate trade by subsidies to favored sectors, special tax policies for favored companies, currency manipulations, credit susbsidies, etc, etc. That's why trade negotiations need to be conducted by people who have knowledge and experience in the specific sectors ... not by a buffoon/bully/scam artist (I don't mean Claude Juncker).
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The man is a huckster, like his cabinet and spokespersons. He creates narratives out of whole cloth, the "fake news" press accurately reports him, and he turns around and denies the facts, arguing how he has undone what the last administration did.
And 40% of the USA public believes it all!
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as the piece briefly mentioned, part of the snakeoil Trump MO is to create a crisis... in order for him to be able to claim credit for "solving" it in short order.
yes, and the rubes fall for it!
this way to the egress.
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Trump calming down and acting reasonable is certainly a good thing. That said, he has a pattern of blowing things up, of claiming that this or that which his predecessors did was a disaster, then doing something very similar claiming that he (the great) has fixed the issue or done something 'never done before.' Some can see through his games, but his base swallows his version of reality hook, line, and sinker. Only time will tell whether anything will truly improve or whether his next fit of pique will again ignite a reversal.
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Free and fair trade with Europe is a good thing that could be a reality is a wonder. Whether Obama envisioned it or proposed it as a path is academic. One can deny Trump any credit for the current state of the union or accept that it really is a trivial matter as to who deserves the credit. Is America better off today then it was 2 years ago? Yes or No?
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No.
Trump didn't destroy the Obama economy yet, but that's about it.
There is clearly not ONE major thing that he achieved and that improves things, whereas he did lots of things that destroy essential parts of America's greatness:
- his EPA is a disaster, and instead of protecting Americans' environment is trying to protect the personal relationship between Republican politicians and their wealthy business donors - knowing that contrary to donors to the Democratic Party, those GOP donors only cultivate one value, and that is maximizing short-term personal financial gain at no matter what price for Americans' and America's future.
- instead of improving Obamacare by reducing costs and covering even more Americans, Trump's tax reform bill destroys the HC of a whopping 13 million Americans, all while increasing costs by a whopping 30% for the others who still have insurance. If you know that Obamacare saved an additional 40,000 American lives a year, through covering 20 million more Americans, it's fair to say that the GOP's tax bill (= their only legislation on HC) will literally kill tens of thousands of Americans each and every year.
- withdrawing from the Paris Climate agreement as the only country on earth to do so, all while ending subsidies allowing American car makers to compete on the international market through developing clean cars, is bad for America AND for the entire planet (the US has the highest carbon footprint per capita in the world ...)
Etc.
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@Ana Luisa from Belgium. It is obvious to you that Trump is not running a Socialist welfare state and spending more of tax payers's monies than it has. But would blame Trump for current or future climate change? Well US elections will be held in November and that can be a referendum on all the issues that you raise from Europe.
If anyone remembers President Obama's economy it was stifled by a community organizer shoving healthcare down America's throat by repeating the mantra "If you like you plan blah blah" The largest tax increase in history was foisted onto businesses and individuals smack in the middle of a recession. The media then told America that "this is the new normal." Then a seasoned businessman comes along as president and knocks it out of the park with a predicted 4% GDP just unheard of so he is hated by the leftists especially in the media for doing what Obama could never have done.
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@P McGrath Fact is: Trump inherited a booming economy from Obama. Plus, there is a long, world wide economic boom. So the good figures are hardly Trumps achievement.
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Yeah ... of course we remember those horrible GOP lies, and there's a reason why we remember how much the GOP and Fox News are willing to lie: they continue to do so on a daily basis.
Facts:
1. Obama turned Bush's -9% economy into a decade-long steady 1.5% economic growth. The EXACT same evolution is continuing today. There is not ONE single economical graph showing something of a Trump dent. ZERO.
Add to that the fact that Trump didn't sign any major economic plan into law, and you can easily understand that what we see today IS the Obama economy continuing just like it did before.
All that you guys have, after almost 2 years of full GOP control of DC, is ... some tweets that promise you that some day, by miracle and without doing anything serious, the GOP will turn that 2% into a 4%. How can you be so indulgent towards the government ... ??
2. Yes, for one year, during the implementation process, PRIVATE SECTOR insurance companies autonomously decided to cancel the HC plans of 1 million Americans and replace them with new (read: beter) ones. Expectations at the time were that not even 1 million Americans would face this situation, so here, predictions have been mistaken. And Obama, appropriately, apologized (= how decent people behave, remember?).
But 20 million MORE Americans now have HC thanks to Obamacare. That means an additional 40,000 AMERICAN lives saved each year. Trump's HC proposal would DESTROY the HC of 30 million Americans... how can you support this??
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@P McGrath: A seasoned businessman? A serial bankrupt? An asset-stripper? An incurable liar?
Dear me, what's a 4% GDP? Maybe you mean growth? Not happened yet--don't hold your breath or you'll need that marvelous healthcare Trump promised. And BTW, the ECONOMIST, hardly left-wing, did a cover story on the man who saved capitalism: OBAMA.
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America may be the E.U.'s biggest trading partner, but the reverse is not the case. That is, the European Union is not the United States's largest trading partner - nor is China. Look north, New York Times. Why not ask what is happening with the trade war your president started with Canada. The steel and aluminium stakes are much, much higher in that conflict. The Trump Trade feuds ain't over.
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A vindication of Trump's trade strategy? No.
In a real estate deal the "bomb throwing" in the middle of negotiations per The Art of the Deal will either result in a better deal or no possibly no deal at all. Next.
In trade negotiations with zero-sum negotiations ( Trump's famous brinkmanship) there is no unlimited supply of trade partnerships to move on to. What we've seen is our partners making deals in other markets which in many cases exclude the US. TPP, EU/Japan, Mexico/China/South America. Pique or profit? In any case markets realign and there isn't always a better deal for the US.
So now we're back to square one, where Obama started of all places, but with no small dose of bad blood between negotiators. Trump claims victory and his supporters (and good ol' Wilby) think he's a stable genius.
Next.
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Is Trump to be congratulated for dropping the talks Obama started, creating chaos and alienating the EU, imposing tariffs which your farmers are feeling because of the retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU, Canada, Mexico and China, and only now changing tact. I call this sheer stupidity and incompetence. If he were the head of a public corporation he would have been fired the first time he opened his mouth. Time you start thinking of doing the same.
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If you listen to comments from EU... Jean Claude Juncker.... His words..... " we were never in a position to agree on these main elements before". So I think it's a little more then it's being presented here....
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Canada and the USA agreed many years ago to move to zero tariffs on all their trade (with very few exceptions). Both economies benefited enormously. Trade is balanced and has been for a long time. It did not stop the Administration from calling imports from Canada, a trade ally and a NORAD and NATO partner, a threat to national security and imposing huge tariffs.
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What better way to look like the hero than to create a crisis and then readily solve it. Trump may not be as ignorant as many folks think. That's actually a pretty smart political move. Of course the US will make a trade deal with the EU as it will also do ultimately with China. That is the point of the tariffs. To announce to other countries that business as usual on trade with the US isn't going to cut it anymore. The EU and China's tariffs on many US goods are unfair and need to be reduced or eliminated. It appears the President's plan is working already. Now China is next.
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@Mike L Lololol..."smart political move"!! Just like when his tariffs hurt farmers and he promised them 12B?! Gee, that little bit of trying to fix his mistake seems less like part of a plan and more like "oops, I did it again." No matter what idiocy Trump pulls, his base irrationally and erroneously assumes that whatever it is, it must be part of a plan. Trump is a bumbling fool who is constantly causing problems--problems he can't always turn around and fix. His constantly turning around and around, from mistake to fix, mistake to fix...is making all of us dizzy and sick. More importantly all across the world he's made the U.S. a complete joke that no country can trust. How do you think that's going to play out for the U.S. economy when people across the globe want nothing to do with American made goods and commodities?
Whether DT's base likes it or not there is only the global economy, and that cannot be undone. That must be accepted and his base must move on and retrain or go to college--and yes, it means having to move for a job. Old traditions cannot last forever, but new ones that are just as good can be made. It's not comfortable and it's filled with risk, but wake up, that is the world we now live in and going back to the 1940s and 50s (culturally or economically) is just not a real option--no matter what the great con artist tries to tell you.
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@Mike L It's not so much trump's ignorance (which he has in spades), as the abysmal level of deliberate ignorance of his adherents. Sad for the country.
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@Mike L Trump has always been a protectionist. Are you saying he lied? Or has he been forced by reality to fix yet another self-inflicted disaster. This is getting expensive, and the 12 billion to the farmers isn't nearly enough.
So Trump is a traditional globalist, after all.
All his talk about America First and increasing tariffs in order to protect American jobs was mere rhetoric - fake news.
Now he's not only taking up Obama's globalist policies, he even wants to become more globalist than Obama, as he's now proposing ZERO tariffs and subsidies for American companies and workers.
Now he'll let American citizens compete against Asians who work at much lower costs precisely because they don't have any EPA nor labor laws.
As candidate Trump himself explains: the only ones benefiting from this kind of trade are the globalist elites, NOT ordinary citizens.
And yet ... look how Trump supporters don't even seem to realize that he's flip-flopping 100%, and now fully support globalism as if it were the best idea any US president has ever had ... .
Shame on you GOP! Time and again, you betray your own voters, and then let Fox News spin those betrayals in such a way that conservatives don't even notice the lies and continue to elect the exact same Republicans anyhow.
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Obviously no one at the NYTimes watched the Presidents speech this morning outlining the various progresses our economy has been going through. Trade deficit falling, food stamp use declining, unemployment at record lows for all segments of the economy. When you threaten and bluster in business you can sometimes achieve amazing results, not every utterance is finite. In business you sometimes have to stomp your feet to get something done. I realize for you economic dilettantes whatever Trump does will never be enough, good enough, compassionate enough, whatever. This sure beats what was happening under Obama and Bush.
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@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman
Trump was crowing about how his policies were solely responsible for the strong US economy—not once mentioning the fact that the last time we saw 4% quarterly growth was in 2014. Tell me, who was President back then? Trump makes no reference to the fact the the worldwide economy has improved, which does wonders for trade and domestic manufacturing. And he doesn’t say anything about the fact that he inherited an economy that was already growing, unlike his predecessor, who took office when we were on the verge of a depression.
Why would he say any of those things? It’s all about him.
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@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman
Since when is something supposed to be true, only because the government tells us it is ... ?
There are NO economists who believe that a trade deficit is a BAD thing, remember? So try to explain why a falling trade deficit would be a good thing, and you'll see how absurd your claim is.
As to food stamps: Congress passed a bill that reduced it, by restricting access to food stamps. The vast majority of the American people consider that to be a bad thing. The number of people on food stamps should get down because less people need it, not because Congress decides to end the program ...
Unemployment: there is NO Trump dent in unemployment numbers at all. The economy is simply continuing the evolution Obama put it on.
And of course, Trump also didn't sign ANY bill into law that would cause a dent here.
So how do you see a link between Trump and unemployment, more precisely ... ?
I agree that you have to "stomp your feet to get something done", sometimes. Instead, Trump is merely tweeting, and in the meanwhile allowing the GOP Congress to do nothing at all. They simply hope that people like you won't pay attention and then attribute the Obama economy to Trump, and that's it ...
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More delusional false equivalency.
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“Mr. Trump, in many ways, is taking credit for solving a crisis of his own making.”
Precisely. But what about the many crises he’s created that he is unwilling or unable to solve? Gutting the ACA, for example, or withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal with no Plan B on the drawing board? And how is the decision to move the US embassy in Israel working out? Further, he claims that China is the US and the world’s major threat but then he scrapped the TPP, thereby ceding even more power to Xi Jinping.
Bold action is defined by attempts to solve problems, not by creating them.
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Where's the news here?
Trump's Presidency, from A to Z, has been to find an Obama policy, declare it the worst policy of its kind ever in the history any where at any time even between really stupid people, to abandon the agreement, to cause an almost-war, to negotiate the exact same deal, only with Trump in the name, and to declare victory.
The Base Goes Wild!!
In the meantime the wider world, not as stupid as the Freedom Fries lobby chooses to believe, has learned that nothing Trump says means anything, no promise Trump makes is reliable, no threat Trump threatens will ever come to pass.
From the sidelines Russia, China, Rocket Man learn, too.
We move on...
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