The problem is that what is being negotiated is NOT “free trade”.
We have imported products from all of these countries with low or no tariff’s for decades. If we merely wished to ratify that practice, it would not require thousands of pages of secretly negotiated conditions.
What these agreements are is not free trade in which all companies compete with simple equal rules and new companies with better ideas can join the market with few barriers. These are managed trade agreements, under which only large multinational corporations can file the necessary paperwork; obtain all the necessary licenses and certifications that they meet all labor, safety, and environmental regulations of all the countries involved; and have an army of lawyers to interact with the multinational bureaucracies created by these agreements. If you are Proctor & Gamble and intend to secure 50% of the soap market in the Pacific region, these agreements are great for you. If you are a 10 person company in Dayton, and a store owner in Korea wants to stock the wonderful strawberry-scented soap bars that were in the hotel room when they visited Dayton last summer, good luck navigating all the regulations created by these “free” trade agreements.
My wife and I lived near the Canadian border in the Detroit area from 1986-1991. For the average person, it was an open border with “free trade”. You could drive to Canada for lunch or for a weekend in Toronto with just your driver’s license, and if a passenger forgot that, the border guards would ask a few questions and wave them through. Local businesses accepted US and Canadian coins interchangeably, even with the knowledge that if they lost a few pennies on a Canadian dime, it was still good business. After NAFTA, which was supposed to promote free movement of people and goods, a trip of a few hours into Canada involves passports, customs forms, and armies of border guards. NAFTA may have simplified some transactions for large businesses, but has increased the hurdles experienced by individuals and small businesses.
>> After NAFTA, which was supposed to promote free movement of people and goods, a trip of a few hours into Canada involves passports, customs forms, and armies of border guards <<
NAFTA? What about post-9/11 safeguards against Canada-based terrorists?