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Old 10-17-2016, 10:37 AM   #2753
octothorp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis View Post
Even now I bet you most Americans have no idea about any of the specifics of NAFTA. They clearly don't about TPP, 70% either don't know or haven't read anything about it. I also hear so much blame on job losses because of trade deals, but very little due to the biggest cause by far which is technology and automation. Even China is losing manufacturing jobs to automation now. Better to blame bad trade deals because you can blame specific individuals instead of technology, where it's a lot harder to single someone out for blame.
From Canada's perspective, I'm highly skeptical of TPP and would probably prefer to see it defeated. But I think it's probably to the benefit of the US, by virtue of the fact that the US is by far the economic power of the signatories and it throws up a certain amount of firewall between those smaller economies and China, making them more dependant on the US for goods. It's just so weird that nobody is vocally advocating for it right now there; I can't remember any deal that's been such a PR disaster where it's so quickly become poison for all sides to touch. I feel like Clinton would probably love for it to get resolved during the lame-duck session and see it passed while being able to say that she personally opposed it.
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