It is true that we do not know what is in the deal withthe Trump administration or even if there is a deal. But we cannot wait until it is too late to express our concerns. While I understand why the government does not want to negotiate in public, we have no idea what if any bottom lines our negotiators have or what they believe success looks like. Instead what we know is that a trail of concessions brought us to this point and a deal will mean more concessions and all evidence suggests that tariffs are here to stay. If the government uses the standard that we want tariffs lower than other countries it has set a very low bar given that our economic relationship with the US and the implications of the tariffs are not like other countries.
There are at least three reasons to be concerned about signing a deal. One is moral and little discussed. But we are negotiating with a fascist regime desperately looking for…