inclusive trade

The Elusive Quest for Inclusive Growth

The point is that the decisions that must be made about how to handle any adjustment falls to domestic level governments and to individual citizens. A trade agreement is not the place to address the issues of French wool growers or the English wine industry.  An agreement can provide new opportunities for markets.  It can lower barriers to trade in wool and wine.  It can make customs procedures faster and easier.  It can help service providers design websites or apps to let new customers find unique products.   It can make it easier to invest in vineyards or warehouses or factories.  It can help spread technology or help license or protect the ideas and intellectual property behind amazing designs.  What a trade agreement does not do is provide inclusive growth.  An agreement cannot create conditions for growth to spread to everyone or growth to flow evenly.  It can only create new opportunities.