REINING IN THE UNICORN:

Good trade (The Ottawa Citizen, September 15, 2009)

A year ago, the Doha round of global trade negotiations looked dead. Truly dead. Beyond resuscitation.

But lately, world leaders, trade ministers and global bureaucrats have been talking about restarting the process. Australia's trade minister has even referred to the coming months as Doha's "end-game." [...]

A lot has happened in the last year, and a renewed interest in trade liberalization couldn't come at a better time.

The biggest thing that changed is the US presidency. When W put tariffs on steel everyone understood it was just a tactic to push freer trade through a reluctant Congress. By contrast, everyone understands President Obama's free trade rhetoric to be a a tactic so he can push forward with things like the tire tariffs and quashing our already negotiated trade agreements with South American nations. But he'd find it hard to resist the transnationalist blandishments accompanying a new global trade round.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 15, 2009 10:58 AM