Let's say you're a random African country negotiating a trade deal with the US.
- you have a nascent agroculture sector that could benefit from some lower tarifs on exports to the US.
- you also have some labour preference laws in your existing oil industry (this is quite common).
Because the only people in the US who care about your country are probably the Oil Companies operating there, getting rid of the labour restrictions in the oil industry is a priority on the US side.
And lower tarrifs on your Cocoa or Vanilla exports wouldn't cost much.
But you know those entrenched local workers in the oil industry are a powerful lobby in your country. You know they will raise hell if those restrictions go away.
And you know they'll probably win if you don't have something to show for it. Something real and something a more powerful "lobby" (like millions of farmers) will support.
Do you really think it's smarter to have that fight back home before starting the negotiations ?
- you have a nascent agroculture sector that could benefit from some lower tarifs on exports to the US. - you also have some labour preference laws in your existing oil industry (this is quite common).
Because the only people in the US who care about your country are probably the Oil Companies operating there, getting rid of the labour restrictions in the oil industry is a priority on the US side. And lower tarrifs on your Cocoa or Vanilla exports wouldn't cost much.
But you know those entrenched local workers in the oil industry are a powerful lobby in your country. You know they will raise hell if those restrictions go away. And you know they'll probably win if you don't have something to show for it. Something real and something a more powerful "lobby" (like millions of farmers) will support.
Do you really think it's smarter to have that fight back home before starting the negotiations ?