General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Without endorsing TPP, some things to consider about it. [View all]True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)There was no national security basis for it, so none of the points I make on that subject applied.
We were not competing with anyone at that point for global supremacy, so that wasn't an issue.
NAFTA was with Mexico and Canada. Is Canada an impoverished post-industrial wasteland? Did Mexicans stop wanting to live in the United States? And apparently we still have significant manufacturing, since the loss thereof is what people are saying TPP will produce.
The fact is manufacturing started leaving the US under the Reagan administration. Businesses used the surplus cash from his tax cuts to finance relocating factories.
There is effectively no analogy whatsoever to NAFTA. Falling under the category "trade deal" does not make two things relevant to each other.