OpEd: Why Trump must strike a trade deal with Japan now, says US Chamber of Commerce CEO
When you stand still on trade, you fall behind. Nowhere is this more apparent for the United States than in Japan, the world's third largest economy and long a top market for U.S. exports. It's also why the U.S. just launched negotiations for a trade agreement with Japan.
Thanks to the agreement's tariff cuts, Japan imported 60% more beef from Canada, Australia, and other TPP countries in January than it did the previous year. And since a new EU-Japan trade pact entered into force in February, European farmers and manufacturers are also benefiting from tariff cuts in Japan.
U.S.-Japan trade topped $300 billion last year, and Japanese firms, which have invested nearly $500 billion dollars in the U.S., employ nearly 1 million Americans. Negotiators can also build on the recently completed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which raised the bar for global trade rules. To illustrate, when NAFTA was negotiated a quarter century ago, there was no e-commerce, so it's no surprise the agreement did not address this booming sector. Here, USMCA's digital trade chapter sets a new, high standard, and the agreement establishes a framework for cooperation against cyber threats.
It's also worth underscoring what a new agreement between the U.S. and Japan should not include. Both sides must reject so-called"voluntary export restraints" and"orderly marketing agreements," which are just fancy names for managed trade. Our countries are champions of free enterprise and free markets, not the socialist mindset that believes government bureaucrats should steer the economy.
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