The US Trade Policy Term Paper

Exclusively available on IvyPanda Available only on IvyPanda
Updated: Feb 13th, 2024

Analysis of the first article

The first article states that “Buy American” and trucking issues in NAFTA were actions solely taken by the Obama administration to appease political supporters. This first statement is correct; Obama was not the only factor needed to implement these policies, congress signed and agreed to both of them. Buy American, a provision placed in the stimulus bill would have required that the only US-made goods would be used in projects funded by the stimulus. Congress signed and passed the bill, effectively agreeing with the Buy American provision. The trucking issues in NAFTA refer to an agreement to not allow Mexican truckers to cross the border to deliver goods (Hopkins). This agreement was implemented under the Bush administration but was recently killed in both the house and the senate. The Senate overwhelmingly voted to eliminate the program. The Chinese tire tariff, however, is a completely different issue. Congress did not have a direct connection to the passage of the tariff as it did with the previous programs mentioned.

We will write a custom essay on your topic a custom Term Paper on The US Trade Policy
808 writers online

The tariff was recommended by a trade commission panel, and not by congress. After consulting his advisors, Obama agreed to implement the 35 percent tax on imported tires from China. In regards to the statement that “President Obama was merely placating political supporters,” I partially agree. The complaint was brought forth by the United Steelworkers and not the tire industry itself. The United Steelworkers, a union, has certainly provided Obama with ample political support in the past and expects Obama to do the same. In the same regards, however, Obama has vehemently stated in the past (before he was elected) that he would take a strong stance towards trade issues with China, and would enforce tariffs if needed. In this sense, the Obama administration was not trying to appease political supporters, but merely sticking to its’ past promises. Lastly, it must be remembered that the trade panel originally suggested placing a 50 percent tax on Chinese tires (Kornblut). The Obama administration, however, only agreed to 35 percent import tax. In light of this action, it could be said that Obama was trying to somewhat appease opponents of the tariff by agreeing to a lower number. In conclusion, I believe that while the tariff had the effect of appeasing political supporters, it was not the sole intention of the tariff. Obama was simply accomplishing one of the original goals of the administration.

Analysis of the second article

The second article states that implementing the tariff forced Obama “to decide between supporting the United States’ image as the world’s free trade leader and the future of both the American and global economies”. While it is true that implementing the tariff has most likely hurt relations with China, it has hardly destroyed its’ image as the world’s leading free-trade leader. The United States has several other tariffs in place for many years, and yet we have still managed to have ample opportunities to trade goods with other countries around the world. Additionally, this statement assumes that the economy of both China and the United States hinges on the trade of tires. This statement is laughable at best. Both economies have other means of creating revenue and have a plethora of other goods they will still be able to trade without an import tax. In a world of globalization, some countries, namely China, can have extremely low-cost labor and can buy materials at a low price due to the level of the RMB. This leads to an inherent unbalance in the trading system at hand. Obama was merely trying to rectify this unbalance by placing a tariff on imported tires. As mentioned before, this is not the first time, and will surely not be the last time a tariff is applied to a product that greatly damages the US market. Also, the Obama administration was not deciding to support the American economy but was doing the opposite. By eliminating the imbalance, they hoped to create ‘fair’ free trade.

Bibliography

Hopkins, Josh. “Is NAFTA a litmus test for Obama trade policy?”. Foreign Policy Association. Web.

Kornblut, Anne. “The U.S. to Impose Tariff on Tires From China”. Washington Post. Web.

Print
Need an custom research paper on The US Trade Policy written from scratch by a professional specifically for you?
808 writers online
Cite This paper
Select a referencing style:

Reference

IvyPanda. (2024, February 13). The US Trade Policy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-us-trade-policy/

Work Cited

"The US Trade Policy." IvyPanda, 13 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/the-us-trade-policy/.

References

IvyPanda. (2024) 'The US Trade Policy'. 13 February.

References

IvyPanda. 2024. "The US Trade Policy." February 13, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-us-trade-policy/.

1. IvyPanda. "The US Trade Policy." February 13, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-us-trade-policy/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "The US Trade Policy." February 13, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-us-trade-policy/.

Powered by CiteTotal, easy bibliography tool
If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. Request the removal
More related papers
Cite
Print
1 / 1