Trade agreement claiming to open borders are not necessary leads to increased wealth: Only those countries with a trade surplus benefit.
Just opening a trade border to foreign countries does not linearly link to larger markets. Opening Europe to Canadian finance companies or, vica-versa, opening Canada to European financial corporations does not increase the universe of customers nor an increase in customer per capita wealth. Basically one side will benefit more.
- Increasing production in lower wage countries benefits the ownership class who can make money anywhere, yet if allowed, will move to the areas where increases in productivity are mainly powered by low wages and newer factories. On the other hand, if you are a line production worker, your wages cannot acount for an increase in productivity and lack of maintenance will subtract from your productivity. Your unemployment benefited from lack of maintenance in your work place.
- During the time when American manufacturing was the dominant production of the world, open borders meant a trade surplus and everyone withing the manufacturing sector benefited, no matter who you were.
- Trade barriers come and go with the desires of the wealthy in the past, such as President McKinley's tarrif laws which he supported before and during his presidency.
- Trade agreements should be negotiated by people doing real work, such as line workers, farmers, accountants, unaffiliated lawyers and certainly not lobbyists. The minute corporations lead the negotiations they are only going to represent themselves, not the people who vote.
- Trade deficits are the worst way to increase productivity. Only increases in productivity result in overall increased wealth. If the GDP growth is similar to the increases in population then productivity has not increased. If both sides of the agreements cannot both increase productivity then any agreement will favor one side. This is very plain to see in the dairy industry: local Greek dairies supplying fresh dairy products on a daily basis to local businesses will be upsurped by Dutch dairy farmers with higher productivity. When the local dairy producers are put out of business the standard of living will decline in Greece. Is this better?