1. A trade agreement will raise the standard of living
of the world’s poor. The economic effect on Mexico, for instance, was much
improved by NAFTA; and that was done without much effect on the U.S. economy.
The improved situation among Mexican workers has lessened their desire to
immigrate to the United States illegally. I would add to Mr. Brooks’ comments
that a rising standard of living among the poor of the Pacific Rim countries
would allow them to buy more United States imports, and that would, therefore,
translate into more income for us.
2. The trade deal will not hurt the American economy.
Eighty-three percent of the nation’s leading economists believe that a trade
deal with the Pacific Rim will help our economy. The global poor will benefit
the most, but most people in rich countries will benefit, too. Since World War
II, reductions in U.S. tariffs have contributed 7.3% to American incomes.
3. A trade deal will not stifle future innovation. Although
some American jobs have been lost by past trade deals, most manufacturing job
losses have been caused by technological improvements. Those manufacturing jobs
aren’t coming back. The best way forward is to increase the number of
high-quality jobs in the service sector. The Pacific trade deal would help. The
treaty is not mostly about reducing tariffs on goods. That work has mostly been
done. It’s about establishing rules for a postindustrial global economy, rules
having to do with intellectual property, investment, antitrust and
environmental protection. Service-sector industries like these are where
America is strongest, where the opportunities for innovation are the most
exciting and where wages are already 20 percent higher than in manufacturing.
4. The trade deal will not imperil world peace. The
Pacific region will either be organized by American rules or Chinese rules. By
voting against the trade deal, Democrats went a long way toward guaranteeing
that Chinese rules will dominate.
Rejecting
the Trans-Pacific Partnership will hurt economies from the U.S. to Japan to
Vietnam. It will send yet another signal that America can no longer be counted
on as the world’s leading nation.
The
best defense of free trade I have read is a book by William Easterly, The White Man’s Burden. Check it out. 
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