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TPP Would Let Us Write the Rules, Not China? Wait, that’s Exactly What We Were Told in 2000 When Congress Was Skeptical About China Joining the World Trade Organization and We Know How Badly THAT Worked Out…

By Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch

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Trade debates often begin with economic arguments. But when those prove unconvincing, proponents of more-of-the same “trade” agreements invariably resort to U.S. foreign policy and national security arguments to try to sell unpopular deals to the U.S. public and Congress.

The Obama administration and Republican leadership are making the exact same arguments about China that were made for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) vote in 2000 – either we right the rules or China will. We know how those claims from 2000 worked out – two million U.S. jobs lost and China’s non-compliance with the WTO later. These false claims should be seen for what they are, scaremongering tactics to gin up support for President Obama’s controversial push for Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.