Free trade is a strategic imperative for the US

Over the weekend, Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell traveled to the People’s Republic of China to address long-running tensions between the two countries. His trip should be setting off alarm bells in Washington. China is trying to drive a wedge between the United States and allies such as Australia by exploiting the U.S.’s self-inflicted economic weakness.

Make no mistake: American protectionism is sending potential friends and allies into the arms of the Chinese Communist Party. Through trade deals and infrastructure programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative , the CCP is executing a sophisticated strategy of economic expansionism around the world. But instead of countering these economic moves by strengthening the U.S.’s position as the world’s favored business partner, American policymakers have persisted in a hardheaded protectionism.

Free trade may not be popular among populist lawmakers on both the Right and Left, but it is an essential pillar of a strategy to contain the CCP. Moving Pacific countries away from their economic reliance on China would enable them to oppose Chinese President Xi Jinping’s aggression more effectively. Strong business ties to the West would also give Pacific countries an important incentive to remain a united front should conflict break out.

The original sin against this sound economic strategy was the unceremonious rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP was a trade deal signed by twelve Pacific Rim countries but never ratified. In the 2016 election, both the Democratic and Republican candidates expressed opposition to TPP. The parties both wanted to pose as champions of the working class, so neither paid heed to the geopolitical consequences of tearing up years of painstaking diplomatic work.

Read more at The Washington Examiner.