Editorial Board
Cheap Coats, Blockaded Harbors and the Value of Free Trade: View
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It’s a bad moment for free trade. Republicans in the Senate are blocking three free-trade treaties -- with Colombia, South Korea and Panama -- until they are stripped of extra assistance (such as retraining) for workers whose jobs are shipped abroad. The Obama administration isn’t all that excited about these treaties or free trade in general, anyway.
The AFL-CIO is even less enthusiastic and is threatening to punish pro-free-trade politicians in the next election cycle. But a bad moment for free trade is a good moment, once again, to make the case.