What a spectacle. An odd coalition of forces, ranging from trade protectionists to angry anarchists, are gathering in Washington D.C. during the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to battle a common enemy: global trade.

Sadly, the anti-trade protests are having an effect on Capitol Hill. The Administration's proposal to grant China permanent trade status, which would almost guarantee its admittance into the World Trade Organization, is in jeopardy. Yet there is much to lose if China, a growing economic and trade power, isn't drawn into abiding by the rules and regulations of the international trade community. Far worse, however, the anti-trade sentiment threatens to derail legislation that would give African and Caribbean nations preferential trade access to the U.S. market. These countries rank among the poorest in the world, and constructing stronger trade bridges to the U.S. holds open the prospect of invigorating growth by providing African and Caribbean entrepreneurs easier access to the world's largest consumer market.

What's more, the idea of turning away from trade agreements at this juncture in our history is bizarre. Economic growth is accelerating during the longest expansion in U.S. history. Median household income is at record levels, and unemployment is at a thirty-year low. The number of long-term jobless has plunged from some two million in 1993 to 637,000 today, and income inequality is starting to narrow. No matter how you slice the data, global trade has played a vital role nurturing the economic expansion and the high-tech revolution.

The pace of global economic activity is picking up. Now is the time to further liberalize trade, especially with the world's poorest nations.


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