It would be an act of true leadership if President Trump rejoined the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade agreement.
Trump has previously railed against the TPP, but signaled his openness to changing course on Thursday by ordering U.S. officials to consider rejoining the agreement.
It's the right thing to do. For a start, U.S. consumers will benefit from accessing more goods at lower prices. This is the ultimate argument in favor of free trade: the ability to buy things from abroad that cost more here at home. It means getting the goods we want and keeping more money in our wallets.
Yes, it's true that some have suffered by the government's failure to restructure our investment and retraining programs. That can be rectified going forward. Yet what the anti-free trade movement is never willing to admit is that their agenda is that of the crony capitalist: forcing the vast majority of Americans to sacrifice by paying more so that a small segment of society can benefit from the absence of competition.
Where protectionism is morally and economically unjust, free trade unleashes individuals to make the right purchases for their families.
The TPP also offers another advantage: It would allow our businesses to sell high-value goods and services to economically developing nations. This matters because as wealth in the TPP nations grows, and the data shows that these economies are growing rapidly, the corollary demand for U.S. products such as iPhones, high-tech machinery, medicines, and complex circuits will also grow. With that demand, new well-paid jobs will be created here at home.
Moreover, there's astonishing potential for a near-term boost in U.S. exports. I've gone through the data of U.S. exports to TPP member nations between 2012 and 2017. Unfortunately, it evinces either lethargic U.S. export growth over the past five years or actual declines.
The two figures shown side-by-side below represent U.S. exports to each TPP nation in 2012 and in 2017.
Australia: $31.1 billion (2012) - $ 24.6 billion (2017)
Brunei: $157 million - $121 million
Canada: $292.6 billion - $282.3 billion
Chile: $18.7 billion - $13.6 billion
Japan: $69.9 billion - $67.7 billion
Malaysia: $12.8 billion - $12.8 billion
Mexico: $215.8 billion - $242.9 billion
New Zealand: $3.2 billion - $3.9 billion
Peru: $9.3 billion - $8.6 billion
Singapore: $30.5 billion - $29.7 billion
Vietnam: $4.6 billion - $8.1 billion
The growth in exports overall should be far greater. That they are not speaks to the urgency of a trade policy that makes it easier for U.S. businesses to gain a foothold in rapidly growing economies.
There's one final reason why rejoining the TPP would be good news: It would allow the U.S. a means of consolidating freedom and capitalism in the Asia-Pacific. At present, a rising China is displacing U.S. export opportunities and intimidating nations across the region into kneeling to its feudal-imperialism.
This is bad news for democracy, the rule of law, and future U.S. prosperity (how will we grow if no one is willing to buy from us?), but very good news for Chinese President Xi Jinping's agenda of global economic domination.
For all these reasons, President Trump would show true leadership by recommitting the U.S. to the TPP and working to make it work better for Americans. He should do so expediently.