Noneconomic Aspects of a US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement: Insights with a New Tool

Jude Althagafi — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:49:03 +0000

Economic considerations for bilateral or regional trade agreements are relatively straightforward, even given the challenge of measuring nontariff barriers. Noneconomic considerations, however, can be notoriously difficult to measure. In the case of US-Taiwan relations, one common factor defines the two countries’ security alliance: China. In this policy brief, we discuss a new metric we recently developed that uses Chinese propaganda as a gauge of noneconomic factors underlying the interest in closer bilateral trade ties between the United States and Taiwan. We find increasingly antagonistic and aggressive rhetoric in Chinese propaganda toward the US-Taiwan alliance at key points in time (such as official visits between the United States and Taiwan) that reflect movement toward closer bilateral ties. These findings, though not unanticipated, indicate a closer security alliance between the United States and Taiwan.

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To read the full report from the Mercatus Center, please click here.

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Economic Report of the President Provides Feeble Defense of Trump Trade Policy

Alena Sanabria — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 15:52:23 +0000

Failure to accurately assess the impact of trade agreements

The report’s chapter on trade policy begins: “…the Trump Administration inherited a legacy of asymmetric trading arrangements that had imposed steep costs on U.S. manufacturing and segments of the labor market.”

In fact, U.S. trade agreements are generally symmetric and fair. They embody the very “free, fair, and reciprocal” goals the Trump administration claimed to be pursuing.

With a handful of exceptions on both sides, all U.S. trade agreements required each trading partner to treat foreign and imported goods equally. In addition to being free, fair, and reciprocal, most trade agreements negotiated prior to President Trump successfully reduced foreign tariffs by more than U.S. tariffs.That’s part of the reason that while U.S. tariffs have declined, foreign tariffs have declined by even more.

The Economic Report adds, “…unfair trading arrangements…have harmed, in particular, U.S. manufacturing and manufacturing employment.” In fact, real manufacturing output increased by more than 50 percent from 1997 to 2019 as U.S. and global trade barriers fell. Manufacturing employment fell because manufacturing workers became more productive, and manufacturing job losses were typically not due to layoffs but instead resulted from workers finding better jobs.

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To read the original issue brief from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, please click here

Bryan Riley is Director of NTU’s Free Trade Initiative. Bryan’s background includes years of research on the impact trade has on people in the United States. He has led grassroots campaigns in support of initiatives like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and in opposition to special-interest efforts to get the government to pick winners and losers in the U.S. economy. Bryan has been quoted in publications including the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He is also an in-demand speaker who travels the country explaining the benefits international trade and investment bring to Americans. Bryan Riley grew up in Manhattan, Kansas. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Southern California. Bryan first came to Washington, DC as an NTU intern during the Reagan administration, and he continues to champion President Reagan’s pro-trade vision for America.

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Noneconomic Aspects of a US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement: Insights with a New Tool

Economic Report of the President Provides Feeble Defense of Trump Trade Policy