A June 19 CNN story looked at recent public statements made by President Trump regarding the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement known as USMCA, among other issues.
Ford School economics professor Alan Deardorff commented on Trump’s claim that “USMCA is actually the largest trade deal ever made anywhere in the world.”
"Since 'biggest trade deal' has no standard meaning, it may be possible to justify his statements by constructing a measure that fits it and by limiting the number of trade agreements that one compares to. But by any sensible interpretation, he's wrong," said Deardorff. He said that both the USMCA and Trump's trade deal with China, "measured in terms of the volume of trade that they cover, are smaller than the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Obama negotiated, and much smaller than the Uruguay Round that created the World Trade Organization."
The full article can be found here.
Alan V. Deardorff is the John W. Sweetland Professor of International Economics and a professor of public policy. His research focuses on international trade. With Bob Stern, he developed the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade, which has been used to estimate the effects of trade agreements. Deardorff is also doing theoretical work in international trade and trade policy. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor, State, and Treasury and to international organizations including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank. Alan received his PhD from Cornell University.