TPP Gains Endorsement From Report Published by Cato Institute
The Trans-Pacific Partnership picked up an endorsement from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that issued a report (here) June 30 concluding the overall impact of the agreement would be “net liberalizing” for trade. Cato found 15 chapters of…
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the agreement to be overall liberalizing, five chapters to be more protectionist than liberalizing, and two chapters to be neutral. The textiles and apparel, trade remedies, and labor chapters tied for the lowest scores on Cato’s liberalization gradient, which found customs, market access and dispute settlement chapters to be the most liberalizing. While TPP doesn’t represent free trade, the perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of the good, and full-blown free trade isn’t politically attainable, the report concludes. “If the TPP will deliver more trade liberalization than restriction, and realistic alternatives to more comprehensive liberalization are unavailable, why not support the TPP?” the report says.