Lighthizer Says Pleas for Business Certainty in Trade Talks Are Pretext for Outsourcing
While companies claim that they need trade policy certainty to be competitive, “what they’re really saying is, ‘We need the certainty so that we can invest in Mexico,’” and to generally outsource, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Nov. 3 in a Fox News interview. “My reaction to that is, that’s not my job. My job is trying to create manufacturing jobs in America, and to put upward pressure on people’s wages.” Guaranteeing or “subsidizing” investments in other markets “makes no sense,” he added. Lighthizer criticized investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in free trade agreements last month, particularly in the NAFTA context, charging that it isn’t a free-market process (see 1710180024).
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Continuing to voice skepticism of views held by major Washington trade groups, Lighthizer said arguments put forth by organizations like the Cato Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that unduly aggressive trade enforcement hurts U.S. consumers have worked “very well for them, for years and years.” Chamber CEO Tom Donohue last month blasted several Trump administration NAFTA proposals (see 1710100025).
The Trump administration has “exactly the same objective” as the Chamber, but the U.S. has “tried it their way” for at least 25 years, Lighthizer said. “All I am saying is let’s try a different route for a little bit.” The result of “their way” is an overall U.S. $750 billion goods trade deficit and an overall goods and services deficit of $500 billion, he said. “These are staggering numbers,” Lighthizer said. Workers “bought into” a system where the U.S. gives fair trade in return for open markets, and the Trump approach should yield greater efficiency and greater global wealth, he said. President Donald Trump wants “open, fair, reciprocal, balanced trade, but we don’t have that,” Lighthizer added. “So the question is, what do you do? Do you buy a rabbit’s foot, cross your fingers, make the sign of the cross? Do you do that? Or do you have a strategy where you’re going to use every tool America has to ensure that our workers and our farmers get a fair shake?”