US Trade Snooping Won't Open Markets

November 2009
South China Morning Post
Scott S. Lincicome

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The recent "three amigos" summit put US President Barack Obama's trade identity crisis on full display. On the one hand, he praised open markets and again vowed to resist protectionist impulses. On the other hand, Mr. Obama's Canadian and Mexican counterparts gave him an earful about US policies harming trade between the three nations.

Such is the state of US trade policy, and nowhere are Mr. Obama's current problems more evident than the administration's new trade enforcement initiative. Announced last month, the programme bolsters the efforts of the Office the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to snoop in other nations' closets and ferret out illegal restrictions to US exports. But while increasing foreign market access for US goods and services is a laudable goal, until the US gets its own (glass) house in order, the administration's plans will be ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst.