This is Free Trade, This is Free Trade on Drugs: A grim reminder of the darker side of wide open, liberalized free trade. While the contaminated pet food story seemed at first to be an isolated incident, the above report on poisoned, counterfeit medicine coming out of China and killing unsuspecting Panamanians has brought the whistle-blowers out of hibernation. Unfortunately it takes these types of incidents to raise the alarm and shatter consumers' false sense of security that what they buy comes from a known, regulated source. However, the finger pointing at China is starting to become a national pastime that is all sizzle and no steak. Too much shimmy, not enough sham. In other words, why haven't there been any consequences, other than fiery academic rhetoric, for China's continued abuse of the global trade system? I may be jumping the gun, but when do a series of events become a veritable pattern of behavior that demands redress? If Americans were the victims of these contaminated medicines, would there be a louder response? Clearly, I have way more questions than answers regarding trade policies with China, but I will say that China's failure to regulate the safety and quality of its exports adds insult to injury to the US's gigantic trade deficit with the Chinese.
For more unanswered questions, see the NYT's two-cents on the Democratic party grappling with a sustainable trade policy.
