Reneging as a form of negotiating
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 10:44 am
A comment in another thread prompted this thought which I thought might be a worthy of its own thread.
At the moment, there is an open threat of the U.S. levying tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1.
Whether or not this is a good economic idea is one question and one that is being discussed extensively.
But the fact that it is in clear breach of an existing agreement (USMCA f/k/a NAFTA) is another issue, and an aspect of the threat that I am not hearing as actively discussed. And what makes it even more noteworthy is that USMCA was negotiated and signed by the current President, not a distant predecessor in a different era.
So how can any country confidently come to an agreement with the United States in the face of a pattern of reneging on agreements and moving goalposts when it feels like it?
If you were the other country would you do it?
Maybe if you had no choice you would do it, but then would you start working on building new relationships and looking for other options to get out of the abusive relationship as soon as you could? Maybe the China Belt and Road initiative would start looking pretty good?
At the moment, there is an open threat of the U.S. levying tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1.
Whether or not this is a good economic idea is one question and one that is being discussed extensively.
But the fact that it is in clear breach of an existing agreement (USMCA f/k/a NAFTA) is another issue, and an aspect of the threat that I am not hearing as actively discussed. And what makes it even more noteworthy is that USMCA was negotiated and signed by the current President, not a distant predecessor in a different era.
So how can any country confidently come to an agreement with the United States in the face of a pattern of reneging on agreements and moving goalposts when it feels like it?
If you were the other country would you do it?
Maybe if you had no choice you would do it, but then would you start working on building new relationships and looking for other options to get out of the abusive relationship as soon as you could? Maybe the China Belt and Road initiative would start looking pretty good?
