Don Evans does Miami
December, 2003: Publius
By Greg Rushford
Published in the Rushford Report
Because he is one of President George W. Bush’s best friends, Secretary of Commerce Don Evans’ views on the direction of U.S. trade policy are important. But how much does he know about international trade? What are his core beliefs, if any? To judge from a luncheon speech that Evans gave on November 19 to the Americas Business Forum in Miami, Evans’ thinking on trade is fuzzy. He was talking to some of the most sophisticated corporate leaders in the hemisphere. But Evans had little to say beyond pap, clichés, and odd historical illusions. I have no idea why, in a speech about the vision of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, Evans felt it relevant to mention Winston Churchill’s early 20th century break with the Tories over imperial preference. As Evans droned on, and on, eyes rolled in the back of the room.
When Evans talked about protectionists who would “subvert liberalized trade,” there were knowing glances of shared embarrassment and secret smirks from members of the audience who understood that the secretary was describing much of the work of the U.S. Department of Commerce (particularly its antidumping regime).
Only the day before, Evans had made financial markets jittery by announcing protectionist quotas on U.S. imports of bras, dressing gowns, and knit fabrics made in China. The act was justified on grounds that it would save American jobs. Yet when I asked Evans directly after the speech how many American jobs he had saved, he looked a bit confused. “How many American women are today making bras?” I pressed. “I don’t know,” Evans admitted, before shuffling off.
This was not just a bad speech, but a truly bad speech. Accordingly, the first portion of it deserves to be quoted at length as an example of what stands for intellectual rigor in today’s Washington, D.C.
Remarks to Americas Business Forum: Secretary Donald L. Evans
The great economic lesson of the Twentieth Century is that free trade and open markets are the most powerful force to spread opportunity and raise living standards in both advanced and developing economies.
The Free Trade Area of the Americas will be one of the boldest steps yet toward that noble goal.
President Bush believes that free trade offers hope, opportunity, and expanded freedom to people in the grip of poverty. And I want to thank you for your commitment to expanding freedom and prosperity through trade.
As you may have noticed, we FTAA supporters aren’t alone in Miami. Opponents of the Free Trade Area of the Americas are here as well.
In the United States, our trust in democracy ensures a tolerance for strongly held points of view. We may not always agree, but we celebrate the freedom to be heard. There is also a long tradition of principled, non-violent debate over free trade.
Almost 100 years ago, Winston Churchill quit the Conservative Party and walked across the aisle to join the Liberal Party in the British Parliament.
Churchill the free trader felt betrayed after his own party leadership fell for the false promises of protectionism.
Churchill knew that England’s national interest was bound to the common destiny of free nations and open markets.
Far from being a zero sum game as some claimed, Churchill saw the policy of open trade and fair competition as the true pathway to greater opportunity, stronger societies, added security, and growing friendships around the world.
SIREN SONG OF PROTECTIONISM
Unfortunately, the misguided and misleading — but seductive — arguments of the protectionists are still at work, eroding prosperity and robbing opportunity.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the protestors have every right to state their point of view but let us be clear: their fundamental premise is wrong, their opposition is misguided, and their solutions would only worsen conditions for people living on the margins of subsistence.
It is the protestors’ misguided attempt to subvert liberalized trade itself that represents the true threat to future prosperity for those living in poverty from one end of our Hemisphere to the other.
It is their approach that is likely to perpetuate inequality and preserve economic hardship.
Erecting new barriers won’t help people trapped in poverty.
Subverting competition won’t improve the developing world.
Dissolving commercial ties with the United States won’t expand opportunity in sheltered South American and Central American economies.
But expanded trade ties and increased competition will help every country in the Americas evolve into a stronger, more prosperous economy.
We must reject the false claims of protectionist fear by leading the willing to embrace the boundless potential of a common economic destiny.
We must support the freedom that will allow individuals throughout our Hemisphere to determine for themselves the key economic decisions that will define their lives.
