A cargo ship passing through the Panama Canal. Photo: Martin Bernetti / AFP / Profimedia
Politicians often manipulate the truth about international trade or customs tariffs for political advantages or to simplify the complex narratives that the public finds difficult.
He explains that any kind of transaction has winners and losses, not being about win-win situations. “If I present myself for a job at McDonald's and I get it, it means a lot of people have not obtained it. They are the ones who lose. The labor market has losses, just as the trade has losses,” explains the author, Dmitry Guzminsky
Guzminsky, former Australian commercial and diplomat negotiator, who now lives in Geneva, where he is executive director of Geneva Trade Platform and founder of Consultant Explained Trade wrote a book on this topic: “Why do you lie about trade and what you need to know about it.”
“The complexity of the commercial agreements discourages the simple explanations, and the politicians are stimulated to silence the details (or, if you want,” to lie “), either because it is complicated, or to mask their own lack of understanding, or to quickly mark visible victories, knowing that the dismantling of their statements will be”).
The electoral strategies, the institutional pressure and the perception of the voters contribute to this distortion ”, writes Guzminsky
The dissonance between political rhetoric and economic reality also has a role, says the negotiator in an interview: “Many times, politicians exploit simplistic stories to convince voters, presenting trade either as a panacea or as a threat, without recognizing the complex shades of international exchanges.”
He also says that the press does not help much, preferring to amplify myths than to do detailed analyzes.
An example given in the book and resumed by the author in interviews is the rhetoric used by the US president: “The rates we impose will be money paid by foreigners, and this will create jobs with us.” The author points out that this message offers the illusion that measures have no internal costs, which is false.
It is also mentioned how politicians talk about commercial agreements, stating that “this treaty will save thousands of jobs” or eliminate all disadvantages, making promises without risks and exaggerating the benefits, although, in reality, the impact is always complex and with unequal effects on the different social groups.
“The customs and the only ones I will affect, and see how President Trump says this all the time, they would say: Listen, they will be money that foreigners will pay us, while at the same time, we create jobs in America. So the illusion is created between different interests.
That, if there are winners and losers, all the staining are abroad. This is never valid in any policy, but certainly not in commercial policy. Finally, the consumer pays. Not foreigners, not US Treasury, ”concludes the former diplomat
