The Chicago Tribune editorial board says “global trade is the reality, and should be promoted.” Published this week, an editorial by the Tribune says failure by Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership would leave farmers in the Midwest vulnerable because trade is a competitive game and market share is always in flux. The editorial calls trade a healthy form of competition. The TPP trade agreement represents 40 percent of global gross domestic product and would mean billions of dollars in added exports and farm income for the United States. President Obama will push for passage of TPP during the lame-duck session of Congress, following the November elections. However, as the Tribune points out, trade has gotten a dirty name this election cycle, blamed for gutting American factories when nearly every American manufacturing job that disappears is “a victim of productivity gains,” not foreign competition.
