China Isn’t Afraid of the New Pacific Trade Deal

It Sounds Good on Capital Hill to Say the Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Limit the Middle Kingdom's Influence, but That's Not Reality

There’s no doubt the 12 ­nation Trans-­Pacific Partnership currently being negotiated by the Obama administration is a political hot potato. Will the trade deal destroy or create more American jobs? Should the United States seek to strengthen intellectual property rights in these other countries? Should a baseline of human rights be a prerequisite for membership in the partnership? Is it right to remove disputes arising under the agreement from a nation’s domestic court system?

These are some of the controversies swirling around the trade deal, which Congress has authorized the …