NAFTA

 

Donald Trump’s latest pronouncement that the U.S. is initiating a Section 232 investigation into whether the import of foreign autos undermines U.S. national security should be taken for exactly what it is: a bluff. This latest move is added to a long litany of U.S. pressure tactics and threats of protectionism, using “creative” interpretations of […]

There may be method in the apparent madness of Mr. Trump’s trade policy pronouncements with their simplistic mercantilist differentiation between good and bad trading partners. The populist rhetoric certainly plays to the president’s electoral base, but underlying it is a longstanding American preference for dealing with trading partners bilaterally where possible. The reason is that, […]

There is no doubt that free trade policies, and their accompanying open border principles, have taken a political beating in 2015. The vote in the United Kingdom to exit the European Union (Brexit) along with the protectionist and isolationist tone of the U.S. Presidential debate (on both sides) reflect a shift in public support for […]