Trade Facilitation

Campus Report ^ | July 15, 2008 | Ben Giles

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Trade Facilitation

by: Ben Giles, July 15, 2008

The Cato Institute’s Daniel Ikenson and World Bank’s Simeon Djankov presented the findings of a new Cato trade policy analysis at the Rayburn House Office Building on July 11.

Ikenson’s paper, entitled Protection without Protectionism: Reconciling Trade and Homeland Security, highlights the disconnect between Americans’ perception of the economy and the realities of international trade.

“The polls tell us that Americans have soured on trade…” said Ikenson. “It’s because Americans are barraged nightly by reports on the news that they’re losing their jobs and that the economy is imperiled by globalization and international trade.”

The reality, according to Ikenson, is that international trade is a boon to the economy, and could be an even greater boon with the help of trade facilitation.

“You talk about trade in terms of export markets,” said Ikenson. “You don’t talk about the benefits of imports. And that is a major oversight. Imports are actually the main benefit of trade. Exports are the icing on the cake.”

While media reports focus on job loss and a dwindling manufacturing industry, Ikenson’s findings tell a different economic tale. He presented what he sees as three myths concerning trade that have been propagated by the media: that the United States manufacturing district is in decline, that the trade deficit is a sign of a poor economy, and that we lack enforcement of the nation’s trade agreements.

According to Ikenson, the manufacturing industry’s struggle has little to do with trade, and people ignore the benefits of imports to the manufacturers.

“People value the probability of losing a lot more than the probability of winning,” said Djankov...

[Paul Ross]

Using formulas of Djankov’s design, Ikenson outlined examples of how trade facilitation could drastically increase profits. For example, it takes five days to for containers entering the country to reach customers, and six days to export due to increased checkpoints within the United States.

Checkpoints for exports. That's a new one.

If one day were to be shaved from the processes of goods coming and going, Ikenson claims that $31 billion could be added to trade in one year.

And, oh yeah, we might lose a few cities to container nukes, but hey, $31 billion is $31 billion...

Ikenson called for better cooperation between Department of Homeland Security policies designed to protect the nation from global threats and the global trade that the DHS hinders in the process.

Let's get those imports in faster. Bring on the NAFTA Super Highway (the one that the Adminstration is claiming it isn't building)

This whole "report" appears to be a simple concoction to justify an existing policy of W and his CFR cronies.

Who paid for this thing? Follow the Money.

[Paul Ross]

“You talk about trade in terms of export markets,” said Ikenson. “You don’t talk about the benefits of imports. And that is a major oversight. Imports are actually the main benefit of trade. Exports are the icing on the cake.”

This falsehood so authoritatively stated as if it is received writ, is conclusive evidence of the concerted campaign, from Cato and allied import lobbyists, that they will do ANYTHING to keep the imports coming in profitably...but don't really care one fig about U.S. production, or the ancillary exports that might promote true economic vitality in the U.S., no matter what numbers they may spew to say we still produce....They Don't Care.

They don't make any real money off domestic production. Hence they now tout the imports as the Be-All and End-All of trade. To hell with exports apparently.

Hence, since in their myopic economic universe, they don't CARE about how unfree and protectionist our "trade partners" might be. So long as they export to us (taking our collapsing dollar) so we can import...its all good.

This is such an amazing fallacy that it really brings immense and virtually non-redeemable discredit to Cato.

They...have gone completely loony tunes, and are jumping off the cliff, apparently expecting people to follow them over...

The fact is that domestic manufacturing is collapsing, and is nonetheless vital to preserving and restoring America's economy. NAM Report: “Securing America’s Future: The Case for a Strong Manufacturing Base”