Top U.S. trade official concerned about protectionist proposals

WASHINGTON — Outgoing U.S. trade ambassador Michael Froman warned Tuesday that America risks ceding its dominance of the global economy if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on promises to slap punitive tariffs on imports and abandon a sweeping trade deal with Asia.

In prepared remarks for his final speech as the nation's top trade negotiator, Froman did not mention Trump by name. But he cautioned that the type of protectionist policies the president-elect has pledged could endanger the ongoing U.S. recovery and embolden Chinese ambitions. Several of the 11 other nations signed on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership have begun adopting portions of the free trade agreement that was supposed to be one of President Barack Obama's signature diplomatic achievements, effectively leaving the United States out of the process.

Meanwhile, he said, China is striking regional trade agreements of its own in hopes of establishing itself as the economic power center of Asia - and eventually, the world.

'How can you be tough on China and withdraw from TPP at the same time?' Froman said in an interview in his office the day before his speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. 'TPP is how you show U.S. leadership in the region.'

The Obama administration had hoped that deepening economic ties with China's neighbors could help constrain the country's rapidly growing influence in the region. The trade deal was a central component of a broader White House pivot to diplomacy in Asia after years navigating through the grinding wars in the Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the lackluster recovery from the 2008 financial crisis fueled frustration with the global economic order - not just at home but around the world. That populist anger boiled over last year with Britain's stunning decision to end its four-decade membership in the European Union and peaked with Trump's upset victory in the U.S. presidential election.

The heated rhetoric over globalization during the campaign extinguished Obama's hopes of getting the TPP passed by Congress before leaving office. Trump has vowed to withdraw from the deal on his first day in the White House, as well as renegotiate or withdraw from America's long-standing free trade agreements with Mexico and Canada and label China a currency manipulator.

Beyond that, Trump has threatened to punish companies that that offshore jobs with a hefty border tax - a power that trade experts say he may not even have. Imports from Mexico and China could also face double-digit tariffs under Trump's administration.

'China is robbing us blind in trade deficits and stealing our jobs. . .,' Trump tweeted in late December. 'SAD!'

In his prepared remarks, Froman argued that most Americans support free trade but the minority that oppose it do so passionately. A September survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that 65 percent of those polled viewed globalization favorably. However, a March poll by the Pew Research Center found the public was nearly evenly divided on the merits of free trade agreements.

Now, with the Trump administration set to reverse course on trade policy, Froman acknowledged the economic anxiety that has shifted public sentiment. Proponents of globalization have not made persuasive arguments in the face of painful job losses in the manufacturing sector and inconsistent support for training and education, he said.

'It's very easy to have a bumper sticker critique of trade policy which takes three paragraphs to refute,' Froman said in the interview.

Nominated as Froman's replacement is Robert Lighthizer, a prominent trade attorney who served as deputy U.S. trade representative under President Reagan. In a 2008 op-ed in the New York Times, he praised Reagan's 'pragmatism' on free trade and criticized modern supporters.

'They embrace unbridled free trade, even as it helps China become a superpower,' he wrote. 'They see nothing but dogma - no matter how many jobs are lost, how high the trade deficit rises or how low the dollar falls.'