US Tariff Levels Will Make It Tough to Negotiate Bilateral Deals, Panelist Says

Low average tariff rates give the U.S. little leverage to negotiate bilateral free trade agreements, which could lead to the U.S. government reverting back to a multilateral agenda, Georgetown University Law professor Jennifer Hillman said during a trade panel session at the school. “How is that going to draw in a really powerful bilateral agreement from all of these countries that can’t negotiate with us anyway?” she said. “This bilateral strategy, I think, really is going to rub up against the economic reality.” Overall, bilateral negotiations would follow a very narrow agenda with a very small likelihood of passing a Congress where members sometimes embellish the negatives of FTA signatories when they consider implementation legislation, Hillman said. If this chronology takes place, the U.S. could pivot back to a multilateral negotiating posture, she said. “It’s only a question of how long is that going to take.”