Opinion: America first or back to business as usual?
When this president was sworn in, pundits scratched their heads at his promise to put America first.
Since taking office, our president has delivered on his promise to rebalance the scales of trade fairness. On Oct. 7 last year, he signed free trade agreements with Japan. Months later on Jan. 15, he concluded the first phase of negotiations with our largest economic rival, China, and on Jan. 29, he signed into law the most comprehensive trade deal in world history, the United States-Mexico-and-Canada Agreement. This administration also improved the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, opened new negotiations with the European Union, the United Kingdom and India. Each of these, completed and future, trade deals will bring meaningful changes to our nation's economic prospects, and South Carolina looks to be one of the biggest winners.
With our attractive terms for investment, proud agricultural sector and ever-growing manufacturing footprint, there is not a single sector of our state's economy that will not be significantly improved by USMCA. Our poultry producers will have new and expanded access to both Mexico and Canada, and our many dairy farmers can rejoice that Canada's unfair milk pricing program will finally bite the dust. New labor standards will create an even playing field for our workers, not least in manufacturing, which is our largest export to both Canada and Mexico. Yet these changes will not just be limited to big corporations, but they will also benefit small businesses who will see a large cut to the red tape currently barring them or complicating their access abroad.
The United States-Japan agreement will reduce or eliminate tariffs on as much as $14.4 billion worth of goods. In exchange for the U.S. limiting tariffs on just 241 goods, Japan will reduce or eliminate tariffs on almost 600 agricultural goods - a huge win for the Carolinas. These are concrete benefits to our economy - lopsided in our favor - and only mark the beginning of ongoing plans to revise our trade relationship with Japan.
While the agreements with our allies are impressive, the first phase of President Trump's bilateral trade deal with the Republic of China is an entirely different beast. When the president first announced his candidacy, he made the strategic threat of China a centerpiece of his campaign, and he has already delivered the first victorious battle. He is demonstrating that the U.S. is finally getting serious about our own national economic security and that we are willing to take on our largest economic rival head on.
Even though the Phase One agreement is just a stepping stone, the negotiations have yielded important concessions from China that benefit the Carolinas and the U.S. at large. In exchange for delaying escalations and cutting half the tariffs on products targeted in September, the Chinese have agreed to several concessions, including an initial framework for treating copyright infringements and a commitment to purchase U.S. agricultural products worth $40 billion.
The pressure is not off China just yet. The administration will keep $360 billion of China tariffs in place in order to maintain leverage for the outstanding, and much tougher, issues remaining, including currency manipulation, intellectual property theft and the state-subsidized Chinese companies roaming global markets without checks or balances.
The effects of the tariffs have been tough for many folks at home, and I am working hard to make sure our farmers and businesses get the necessary relief to tackle it. With their exports sliding, demand failing and Asian stocks declining, the effects of the tariffs on the Chinese economy cannot be disputed. In fact, last year marked the slowest Chinese growth in three decades.
Even under this immense pressure, the Chinese are not expected to agree to any further negotiations this year. They realize that the outcome of the next round will not be decided at the negotiation table but at the ballot box in 2020. Will it continue to be America first or back to business as usual?
Ralph Norman represents the state's 5th Congressional District.