Free trade my foot

China’s application into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would only go through if it agreed to the possibility of being slapped export limits until 2013. WTO which detests bilateral agreements (in favour of multilateral ones) turned a blind eye that last time and again a few months ago when the US and EU elevated their threat to exercise “safeguard” (read further quotas) against this nascent economy’s textiles. This was after a 40 years-long quota protective of the US and EU textile industry has just ended.

The bullying powers borrow the argument of protecting export-based industries in poor countries like Bangladesh. In actual sense they are worried of the cheap textile infiltrating their domestic markets. Any denials by the US and the EU are futile. Remember the great lengths America went to guard their steel and cotton industries? And no example can be better than the recent Boeing versus Airbus competition of who-gives-more-subsidies.

The US and the EU, champions of free trade and globalization? Pushers for democratization through growth of the middle class? Yeah right.