Protectionism comes at a
price, US President Donald Trump will quickly learn. His fulfilling of
an election campaign pledge to pull his country out of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership free-trade agreement on his first day in office pleased his
supporters, but was also welcomed by China. In jettisoning the deal,
the door has swung open wide for Beijing to push its own regional pacts.
There is every reason to look to the mainland; the benefits of
globalisation far outweigh the disadvantages.
Former president Barack Obama had globalisation
only partly in mind in driving the 12-nation TPP. The pact was an
element of his strategy to counter Beijing’s influence through an
economic, military and political pivot to Asia. China, the world’s
second-biggest economy, was excluded. President Xi Jinping responded
with the “One Belt, One Road” trade initiative
and by backing two rivals to the TPP, the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
