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With which nations? A Free Trade Agreement isn't something universally good.
You wouldn't get to pick 'which nations'. What I'm describing would be a blanket statement: If you implement a carbon tax you can sign into this Free Trade Agreement club. Any nation in that club automatically has the same FTA with every other country.
"A Free Trade Agreement isn't something universally good." - Totally agree, but I think we can also agree that it would create an incentive for countries within the agreement to trade more with each other than with outsiders. It would also provide an incentive for the outside countries to join the club (specifically after it has reached some critical mass).
Industries within countries could definitely be negatively effected because of the FTA. I get that. All industry will be negatively effected if climate change isn't curbed though. This seems like a way to make a tangible policy today that builds economic incentives for a carbon free future. It does not require full world 'sign off' before you start. It can start with just two countries drafting this open-invite FTA and allow any other country into the club once they've proven they have a carbon tax.
Would need a few more stipulations than just a carbon tax.
Labor rights would be important too. One country that uses slave labor to build stuff, and dumps toxic waste into the ocean, but just tacks on a few $ in carbon tax for their big carbon belching systems still wouldn't be good for anyone.
Probably would be ok with a general human and nature rights treaty, where there is free trade as long as the overall impact of the economy in all aspects is at least neutral.
I guess this might be an incentive for some developing nations.
But FTA agreements also come with a lot of strings attachted.
For example, I would not want an FTA agreement with the US, regardless. They usually require the partner nations to enforce US copyright law. Also we already have higher consumer product standards and I doubt the US will raise theirs to comply.
It might be a big tripping hazard to go full "free trade agreement" just to get a carbon tax. The better approach is probably going to be some sort of mutual taxation/tariff/duty pledge. Something where all the countries that opt in would levy a duty of some sort on all goods that involve carbon emissions in their lifecycle outside the transportation of said goods (this is a trade agreement after all), and waive that duty on all member nations' exports.
When people hear "free trade" they think of a system that waives all import duties, which may or may not be what is desired here. I can think of some bad actors passing a "carbon tax" just to get all the other duties on their goods dropped.
The alternative of course would be an actual free trade agreement but with a lot more qualifications than just "carbon tax." Like union support, a living minimum wage, free education through age 18 (for example), environmental protections, reasonable intellectual property protections, no wars of aggression, etc etc., PLUS a carbon tax.
When people hear “free trade” they think of a system that waives all import duties, which may or may not be what is desired here. I can think of some bad actors passing a “carbon tax” just to get all the other duties on their goods dropped.
Honestly, this is exactly what I was thinking when I formulated this question. While I agree with your comprehensive list, we may not have time for that. Even a 10 or 20 year deal of a "carbon tax free trade agreement" may be all we need to course correct. If it is effective (at curbing carbon emission and as a political tool) a new FTA with the qualifications you listed could be crafted. The more qualifications, the slower nations would be to adapt/enroll and I'd be wary of adding too many if the goal is fast action now.
Bad actors' intent matters little, as long as their actions align with world goals.
I love this idea.
I would definitely support it.
No, for very very obvious reasons.
Carbon taxes/credits are a fucking joke.
Suggest something better.
Phasing out fossil fuels entirely and quickly for starters...
How? Are you going to put ambulances out of service because they burn gas? I'm guessing not, so there's one exception. Eventually you'll have so unmanageably many exceptions you'll wish you had just used a tax to encourage the transition.
Constructing economic incentives is generally more effective at driving desired actions than completely disallowing things. It also allows for 'crowd sourcing' the decision making process for what is low hanging fruit and what is difficult or 'expensive' things to change.
Exactly. Like, you could theoretically make the call for every single use case as the government, but in practice that's really hard and hasn't ever worked out well. I have as much of a bone to pick with our economic system as the next Lemming, but markets are actually very good at adequately meeting (effective) demand without incurring unnecessary cost.
I like the principle, and we already have the carbon tax, but even I think free trade can be a double edged sword. What if North Korea (or substitute Afghanistan, if you like NK) joins? Are we just going to start sending them goodies?
this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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