A public opinion survey on the WTO?

Public opinion about trade policy, WTO and international trade negotiations is rather limited for a variety of reasons. For one, the impact of trade deals as well as international agreements do not seem to impact domestic lives and matters. It is seen as something far and distant left to policy makers and trade experts. While this is true of the non-trading population, it is also prevalent in many business communities.

In this context, what people think about the WTO, about leadership in trade policy and the like is an interesting exercise. This was what exactly the tradevistas did with a survey of Americans asking them questions about US role in trade, walking out of the WTO and the like. SOme of the responses were interesting but not that surprising. The survey was done in July 2020.

A new poll by TradeVistas, conducted by Lincoln Park Strategies, finds that while a plurality of Americans support leaving the WTO, most Americans either oppose the idea or are unsure what to think. Our poll also finds that while Americans overwhelmingly want the United States to be “the leader of the global economy,” most Americans don’t see membership in the WTO as critical to that goal. These responses imply that most Americans are relatively unaware of the WTO’s role, and that the benefits of U.S. participation are far from obvious to the general public. The results also imply that any momentum for U.S. withdrawal largely reflects the work of a motivated minority, versus a groundswell of public will.

The results are shown in this infographic for easy reading here:

Looks pretty balanced out there. Then again 1000 respondents and issues of sampling discounted, it is a pretty high awareness about WTO issues. The results and reactions will significantly vary across countries. Public consciousness of the WTO or international trade issues will generally be extensively pervasive when a critical issue for the domestic economy is being debated or negotiated or decided at the multilateral fora. It can capture public imagination and influence local policy choices. However, generally, issues of international trade and investment, though intricately connected to the domestic context, don't receive enough traction domestically.