Since the nineteenth century, the United States has been a significant economic and political presence in the Asia–Pacific region. That has involved periodic clashes with other powers, the most extensive and brutal being with Japan, culminating in the Pacific War of 1941–1945. The United States also participated in — and lost — a regional war in Vietnam. Today, America finds itself embroiled in a significant geopolitical and regional competition with the People’s Republic of China.
Amidst these political changes, trade has remained central to America’s engagement in the Asia–Pacific region. American entrepreneurs and businesses have long recognized the opportunities for trade in the Asia–Pacific region as well as the subsequent benefits for American consumers and workers. Even before the United States acquired massive territory in the Western half of North America throughout the nineteenth century, American merchants were trading throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Those economic possibilities for Americans remain as alive today as they were in the past. Since the late 2000s, however, new political developments have complicated this picture. Some of the most consequential include changes in China’s relationship with the United States, China’s ongoing use of neomercantilist trade agreements to try to force Asia–Pacific nations into greater dependency on Beijing, and swings toward protectionism across the political spectrum of American opinion and policy.
Protectionism, however, is detrimental to America’s economic and national security interests. This paper lays out a framework for how the United States can advance a trade liberalization agenda for the Asia–Pacific that reflects present geopolitical conditions. National security considerations always shape trade policy and a full liberalization of trade throughout the region is unlikely. Nevertheless, American efforts to promote a strategic liberalization of trade with nations throughout the Asia–Pacific region will serve America’s economic interests, as well as strengthen America’s position in its geopolitical contest with China.
To read the report as it was published on the The American Institute for Economic Research website, click here.