Who could be for protectionism? Well for starters, the United States for most of its history. Protectionism is a big part of what put the US in a position to become the global superpower.
Tariffs on superior, imported textiles from the British Empire allowed the US textile industry to become dominant. Many years later the US gov did the same thing at the behest of the American steel magnates, allowing the US steel industry to become dominant. In fact, the GWB administration added tariffs to protect the US steel industry against Chinese steel about 10 years ago. Furthermore, just this week, US steel companies are asking to have them put back into place http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-steel-ceo-says-tariffs-could... .
This is a case of the US advocating do as we say, not as we do. The US obviously doesn't want Vietnam, Mexico, or any other country to develop their own industries -- they want to flood their markets with American made products so that American corporations can see nice profits. Unfortunately, thats usually at odds with whats in the best interest of the foreign nations population.
No arguments here. Lots of countries, the US included, have historically utilized protectionist polices that benefit local industries at the expense of higher prices for local citizens and undeserved profits for local industry. My point, besides the fact that I'm personally in favor of free trade, is that the TPP in reality has little to do with free trade. From an analysis by Dean Baker:
"The actual trade barriers between the United States and the countries in these deals, with few exceptions, are already quite low. This means that there is little to be gained by lowering them still further."
Tariffs on superior, imported textiles from the British Empire allowed the US textile industry to become dominant. Many years later the US gov did the same thing at the behest of the American steel magnates, allowing the US steel industry to become dominant. In fact, the GWB administration added tariffs to protect the US steel industry against Chinese steel about 10 years ago. Furthermore, just this week, US steel companies are asking to have them put back into place http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-steel-ceo-says-tariffs-could... .
This is a case of the US advocating do as we say, not as we do. The US obviously doesn't want Vietnam, Mexico, or any other country to develop their own industries -- they want to flood their markets with American made products so that American corporations can see nice profits. Unfortunately, thats usually at odds with whats in the best interest of the foreign nations population.