Current Events > Free trade sphere grows around the world, leaving US in the cold

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/Free-trade-sphere-grows-leaving-US-in-the-cold

Japan's economic partnership agreement signed with the European Union on Tuesday looks to invigorate a host of other free trade efforts including the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and deals between the EU and South America, raising the unexpected possibility the U.S. will be left out in the cold as the world speeds toward multilateralism.
Under the new Japan-EU pact, both sides will tear down barriers on industrial products and agriculture. Europe's 10% tariff on Japanese passenger cars will be phased out over eight years, and levies on 92% of Japanese autoparts will vanish immediately. Mazda Motor, which exports from Japan over half the vehicles it sells in Europe, hails it as a "major accomplishment."
Tokyo will abolish tariffs on European wine and lower levies on soft cheeses, with a plan to abolish them entirely in the agreement's 16th year.

When a 2007 agreement between Japan and Chile removed tariffs on the South American country's wine, Japan's imports increased fivefold in a decade, while imports of California wine fell by 30%. The spread of free trade agreements that exclude the U.S. is likewise expected to hurt the competitiveness of American products.

Chief negotiators on TPP 11 -- re-worked to function without the U.S. following its withdrawal in 2017 -- gathered near Tokyo on Tuesday for a three-day meeting, during which they will discuss how additional countries can eventually join. Nations including Thailand, Colombia, South Korea and the U.K. have shown interest.

..

America's absence from major trade efforts is already creating challenges for free trade. Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who took office in May, has called for TPP 11 to be renegotiated. On other fronts, China is filling the vacuum left by the U.S. with trade deals that may not meet international standards. A free trade agreement took effect in January between the Asian economic powerhouse and Georgia, a key partner in Beijing's Belt and Road initiative targeting new trade routes through central Asia.

not like CE cares though

Just so we're clear, these people aren't leaving America in the cold. Trump is making us stand outside in the snow, preventing us from going in, and insisting that we can make the place great again.
---