Even as Trump claims two victories on trade, doubts remain

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s trade deal with China last week opened up export opportunities for American farmers, manufacturers and energy producers. And his trade pact with Canada and Mexico, approved Thursday by the Senate, could help restore some auto production in the United States.

Yet perhaps more than anything, last week's twin breakthroughs on trade provided a breather from two chaotic years of Trumpian policymaking — involving threats, truces and heavy U.S. tariffs imposed on friend and foe alike on a scale unseen since the 1930s. The uncertainty had been clouding the economy, causing businesses to delay investments until they knew how the trade turmoil would shake out.

“We got trade peace,’’ said Mary Lovely, an economist who studies trade at Syracuse University.

At least for now.

But Lovely and other critics warn that the deal with China leaves unresolved most of the toughest and most complicated issues dividing the world’s two biggest economies and that progress could unravel over time. They also caution that the new North American trade pact, though it might spur some job growth, will likely make American-built cars more expensive and less competitive globally.

Whatever the outcome, the president’s approach to trade marks a clear break with seven decades of U.S. policy that had favored ever-freer world commerce. Rather than seek to tear down trade barriers and pursue rules designed to benefit all countries, the administration unabashedly embraced an America First agenda. Armed with tariffs, threats and combative rhetoric, it sought to force concessions out of China, Mexico and Canada.

“Previous presidents would have said it’s about win-win, it’s about trade liberalization, it’s about global growth,” said William Reinsch, a former U.S. trade official now at the...