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You can do good, fair, transparent and sustainable trade agreements where you win and I win, and not the American view, which seems to be, 'You lose and I win.'

7 Comments

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, saying she is "quite confident" that a broad agreement on a Japan-EU fair trade deal can be announced at a summit on July 6 with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as both sides try to finalize the reduction of tariffs on autos and agricultural goods.

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I don't recall that view during NAFTA or during the Marshall Plan. She needs to read a few history books. Or maybe she's thinking of Trump's view, but it's not the US stance. The US market has been the main contributor to the prosperity of Japan, Korea, Taiwan and to a large extent to Europe and a host of other affluent countries.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

That's because so many Americans have been raised to think that if someone else is doing well, then they must be doing worse than they should be.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The best deals are where both parties prosper the most. They last longer, and create a stronger bond between the two parties.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

She's got her little USA bash into this comment I think.

Abbeyroad45 you must be American to know so much about how they are raised and think.

On the other hand, I noticed a lot of Europeans have spite and dislike as their default setting toward America.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

An asinine comment by Cecilia Malmstrom. This is not what "Americans" think and not an "American" view. Of course, some trade deals have been negotiated such that the U.S. is the benefactor. Some have not.

What is in common relative to all these trade deals is the middle and lower class get screwed and the elite rich in all nations continue to get wealthier (which has occurred in nearly all developed nations over the past several decades).

I am no fan of Trump at all (I think he is unfit to be the President) however I do agree with the U.S. pulling out of the TPP.

In the end, Malmstrom could have done away with her anti-American statement and just stated she hopes the EU and Japan can negotiate a good deal and leave it at that.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Abbeyroad45 you must be American to know so much about how they are raised and think

Yes, I am. Many Americans do think of life as a zero sum game. If my neighbor is winning then I must be losing because we can't both be winning. It is a common way of thinking.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Abbyroad45

Well you'd be pleasantly surprised to know that most Americans do not think in that ridiculous way. That's pretty low.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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