Corporate elites think Trumps trade agenda might help them
Shocking, but true: Corporate elites think Trump’s trade agenda might help them
Greg Sargent
Washington Post
It’s widely treated as an article of faith that, if Donald Trump makes good on his vow to rip up our trade deals, he’ll seek to re-negotiate them in a manner that helps American workers. After all, he’s a “populist” who vows to remake the GOP as a “workers party,” so surely any renegotiated deals on trade — his signature issue, the one that cemented his bond with Rust Belt working class whites — will follow suit, right?
Politico reports today that business lobbies, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are privately gearing up for a campaign to persuade Trump that, if he does seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, he should do so in ways that help them:
Business groups are hoping they can persuade him to instead “fix” the agreement in ways that will benefit them.
In an ironic twist, many business groups hope Trump will steal ideas from another trade agreement — the Trans-Pacific Partnership — as he seeks to upgrade NAFTA. That should be possible, since both Canada and Mexico are part of the 12-nation deal that Trump is vowing to jettison on his first day in office.
While Trump won rhetorically on trade and stole the populist spotlight with his
Carrier deal, make no mistake that Trump will be no different than any other GOP politician when it comes to screwing over working people.
It was progressives, not Trump
that defeated TPP. We need to be on guard because Trump will attempt to claim the mantle of populism as he continues to hand out free trade protectionism to corporate sponsors while offering nothing to working people.
It's going to be a long four years, but it's time to dig in and fight.
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