Will Obama Bring Back Protectionism? | Newsweek The Council on Foreign Relations

The China Conundrum
Robert J. Samuelson 9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
For years, U.S. presidents have faced a China conundrum: how to deal with a country that has predatory trade practices without unleashing worldwide protectionism? President Obama's recent decision to slap high tariffs on Chinese tire imports for three years, starting at 35 percent and dropping to 25 percent in the final year, captures the dilemma. To do nothing about China's trade policies is to encourage more of the same. But to attack them too aggressively threatens U.S.-China cooperation on other issues (from North Korea to financial regulation) and risks a wider trade war.
All Sound, No Fury
7/6/2009 12:00:00 AM
Translators were baffled by Vladimir Putin's recent response to President Obama. Leading up to his summit in Moscow, Obama had announced that the Russian premier had one foot in the old way and one foot in the new. "We cannot stand v raskoryachku," Putin replied in a steely voice. Everyone understands that this rarely used idiom refers to an awkward position, but not even native speakers can visualize it. For some, it evoked nonconsensual sex. For others, it suggested bowleggedness. The best translation was posted by a BBC Russian Service producer on Facebook: "one leg here, one leg there, with the bottom asking for trouble."
BUSINESS
The Coming Trade Wars
Jeffrey E. Garten 1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM
It's hard to find a top economic official, economist or global business leader who doesn't recognize today's heightened dangers of protectionism. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently called protectionism the "road to ruin," HSBC chairman Stephen Green has urged governments to "avoid the protectionist errors of the 1930s" and WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy never misses a chance to warn against new tariffs. But it is equally difficult to identify any high-powered efforts to actively ward off the prospect of higher tariffs, quotas or trade-blocking regulations. It is as if talking about the threat is seen as enough to deter a gigantic rollback of global commerce. But rhetoric will not prevent a trade war, which is now, I believe, more likely than it has been at any time since the early 1970s, when currencies were no longer fixed to the value of gold and began to float against one another.
EXPERT OPINION
Advice for Obama
7/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
Sometime near the beginning of what many here hope will be the first of Obama's two terms, and at the latest in 2010, the British government will most probably change from Labour to Conservative, from Gordon Brown to David Cameron. But Washington needn't worry: the next lot will be even more pro-American than the last. The Tories adore Obama, NATO, New York and American ways of doing almost everything. A Conservative government will, like the Blair and Brown ones, share Obama's insistence on taking a long-term, multifaceted approach to combating terrorism and his emphasis on the importance of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Britain's armed forces are overstretched and underfunded, but they will still help America as best they can, especially in Afghanistan. London is the place to have a conversation about a joint political, military and economic strategy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan. We have been in those places before. And we're there in several ways now—not just militarily but through our many new Brits of Pakistani origin who live mentally, if not physically, in both countries.
CAMPAIGN 2008
Obama's Brain Trust
6/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
"This is a team that's very reflective of Obama, who has made it pretty clear in his speeches and statements during the campaign that he believes that diplomacy has been undervalued over the past few years and that the United States shouldn't fear to negotiate," says Derek Chollet, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security who advised John Edwards' presidential campaign.
What the World Is Hearing
Fareed Zakaria
Despite their spirited squabbling, the two Democratic candidates are united in the view that one of the big benefits of electing either of them would be an improvement in America's reputation and relations with the world. Hillary Clinton promises to send special envoys to foreign capitals the day after she's elected. Barack Obama offers to reach out to America's foes as well as friends. Unfortunately none of this will matter if they continue to spout dangerous and ill-informed rhetoric about trade.