Thursday, 11 July 2002

US trade liberalization promises net gains The US International Trade Commission has estimated the impact of protection on the US economy. You can read the numbers as a current loss or a future opportunity. "Based on 1999 economic data, the ITC estimated removing all U.S. trade barriers would result in a nearly $29 billion gain in imports, a $15 billion gain in exports and a net employment increase of 35,000. " Quicken Underlying the net employment increase would be big job losses, mostly in the textiles and clothing industries, as high protection industries adjusted to competition. According to the ITC a combination of tariffs and quota import restrictions increase the average U.S. price of textile and apparel products by 34.4 percent. 1:45:32 PM    comment []