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China's trade thing across Eurasia, does anyone care?
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 6:18 pm
by OgreBattle
One Belt One Road is big news in China but I haven't heard much about it in the US. To be fair it's just in the talking and planning phase, as far as I know the trans Eurasian rail lines and sea routes aren't secured by the PRC yet
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 9:22 pm
by Username17
Honestly I don't actually care very much about OBOR. The experience of NAFTA is that actually not very much happens because of free trade agreements. Tarriffs simply aren't very high and multilateral agreements to lower them even further don't change much.
The political symbolism of trade agreements can be a big thing. The Common Coal Market didn't do much, but it did lead to the EU such as it is. And of course, TPP fell apart in acrimony and now a bunch of countries are pointing guns at each other. And people think that trade agreements are a big deal. Lots of people think they are unemployed because of NAFTA somehow even though very few people actually are.
But the bottom line is really that Putin just isn't very trustworthy, and China touching dicks with Russia isn't likely to make much lasting impact. Putin would still betray China in a heartbeat so the political symbolism of the trade deal doesn't do much.
-Username17