Will free trade benefit from US poll?

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Free trade might not be the issue that decides the US presidency, but the outcome of the election could have a big impact on how the global economy works after November 4.

Foreign policy, Sarah Palin and personality all swayed the American voters but the economic policies of Barack Obama and John McCain will have far-reaching effects for the rest of the world

Republican candidate McCain has in the past supported bills on Free Trade agreements with the likes of South Korea and Colombia, and is a fan of de-regulation – even though that policy has taken the blame for much of the credit-crunched recession the US is currently experiencing.

According to the Cato Institute, a US public policy research group, McCain has ‘voted in a free-trade direction on 88 per cent of major votes affecting barriers to trade, Barack Obama only 36 per cent of the time.’

Obama’s rhetoric is more towards regulation and protecting workers’ rights and the environment. He is cautious, as he told the Detroit Free Press in October: ‘I am a free trade proponent. I strongly believe in it. But I also believe that my job as president is to promote free trade as a tool of American prosperity, and not simply assume that every free trade deal is a good deal for America. It's not.’