With Protectionism, Trade Could be 'a Major Drag for Growth'
Kevin Rudd on BNN Bloomberg
ASPI President Kevin Rudd joins BNN Bloomberg about the threat that protectionism poses to the global economy in light of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Washington D.C., and ongoing trade negotiations with both Japan and China
Rudd shares concerns about the outcome of these negotiations given the “sea change in American policy and politics on the questions of trade” and makes predictions about their outcomes. One particular concern for Rudd is a U.S.-China trade agreement that violates WTO rules, “an entire fabric of laws and dispute resolution mechanisms [that] help all of us who are committed free-traders to survive.”
Rudd is more optimistic about the impact of the U.S.-Japan negotiations on the future of free trade. He commends Abe’s work “domestically in getting support from the Japanese body politic behind the TPP,” and notes the importance of pairing these efforts with global partnerships to support free trade. Rudd emphasizes the need for such advocacy for free trade, stating “unless we are providing continued political momentum against protectionism, bit by bit, measure by measure, tariff by tariff, we’re going to end up in a world of pain in what is already a globally soft economy.”