re: #175 calochortus

I think the idea with a bunch of separate bilateral agreements give Trump-the consummate deal maker-a chance to make the best possible deal with each of our trading partners. That if a group agreed to something, there might be a provision that isn’t that very, very best for the US.

I also think that is totally wrong.

Given his repeated trips to bankruptcy courts, you’d think he’d be used to negotiating a multilateral deal.

On a serious note, the bilateral approach would have made sense in the 19th century. But for the last century or so, the international community has been building international trade law through multilateral agreements and institutions like the WTO. Having so many different agreements, potentially with varying terms, would be foolish, I think.