Why America and the world need free trade

The Prometheus Institute ^ | 8/2/2006 | M. Harrison

[tang0r]

Forget the politicking on the news about tariffs and subsidies. The true advantages of free trade, toward which small political steps as the Doha trade round are vital, are to the long-term financial and social benefit of America and the world. Were free trade effectively implemented, instead of being torpedoed by the demagogic posturing of reactionary Leftists, the progress and development it inspired would improve the lives of millions of people.

[wolfpat]

If you must have a multi-hundred page book outlining the agreement, then it ain't really Free Trade, is it?

[EagleUSA]

Not at the sacrifice of soverignty and our security (our borders) as our fine Washington-ites would have it. All at OUR cost -- never to them of course.

[Medicine Warrior]

Yeah! Free trade my ancient mare. Free means free, like in equal. How come under NAFTA Mexican trucks and drivers that do not come close to our standards of safety and training are clogging our highways with obviously overloaded trucks and we cannot haul into precious Mexico?

How come a liter of vanilla extract costs $2.50 in Tecate, Mexico and $23.00 in El Cajon, CA? There are piles more...

No more "Free Trade" until American interests are represented by real Americans and not Liberal traitors.

[Mase]

...then it ain't really Free Trade, is it?

If these agreements increase personal freedom by lowering government interference, is that a good thing? Are lower prices good? Is increased trade good for our economy? Jobs? Wealth? If not, why not?

[Mase]

Leftists deride globalization for being, among other things, obsessed with sacrificing human interest in the pursuit of lowering prices. They what they strangely don't realize, however, is how much low prices are a human interest.

The author might be surprised to learn just how many "conservatives" on FR agree with these leftists.

[mysterio]

We need free trade so we can ship our jobs to Mexico and pay workers $1 per day. We also need it so eventually we can become the North American Union. "Prometheus Institute" should do a blog on that. You could call it, "Sovereignty or Cheap Crap? Cheap Crap!"

[wolfpat]

Do they lower government interference, or do they just change the face of the government interference? I'm all for free trade, but free means free. How much needs to be specified other than, "I won't stop your sellers, and you won't stop mine. All other laws apply."

[Mase]

Do they lower government interference, or do they just change the face of the government interference?

Tariffs are taxes that exert more government control over the economy. Same with quotas. Removing them or lowering them reduces government control of trade and the economy. The more economic freedom a country practices the more wealth they will accumulate. There is also a solid correlation between the amount of personal liberty people enjoy and the amount of economic freedom a country practices. Since WWII we have significantly reduced barriers to trade and our economy and wealth have increased dramatically.

[Toddsterpatriot]

We need free trade so we can ship our jobs to Mexico and pay workers $1 per day.

We're doing a poor job of shipping our jobs to Mexico.

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Data extracted on: August 2, 2006 (12:19:00 PM)

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Series Id:           LNS12000000 Seasonal Adjusted Series title:        (Seas) Employment Level Labor force status:  Employed Type of data:        Number in thousands Age:                 16 years and over
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
1993	119075	119275	119542	119474	120115	120290	120467	120856	120554	120823	121169	121464
1994	121966	122086	121930	122290	122864	122634	122706	123342	123687	124112	124516	124721
1995	124663	124928	124955	124945	124421	124522	124816	124852	125133	125388	125188	125088
1996	125125	125639	125862	125994	126244	126602	126947	127172	127536	127890	127771	127860
1997	128298	128298	128891	129143	129464	129412	129822	130010	130019	130179	130653	130679
1998	130726	130807	130814	131209	131325	131244	131329	131390	131986	131999	132280	132602
1999	133027	132856	132947	132955	133311	133378	133414	133591	133707	133993	134309	134523
2000	136559(1)	136598	136701	137270	136630	136940	136531	136662	136893	137088	137322	137614
2001	137778(1)	137612	137783	137299	137092	136873	137071	136241	136846	136392	136238	136047
2002	135698(1)	136442	136195	136136	136546	136415	136410	136695	137305	137001	136517	136400
2003	137424(1)	137472	137461	137637	137547	137784	137478	137525	137601	137986	138453	138400
2004	138472(1)	138495	138452	138659	138843	139181	139591	139558	139495	139768	140276	140133
2005	140234(1)	140285	140601	141196	141571	141750	142111	142425	142435	142625	142611	142779
2006	143074	143257	143641	143688	143976	144363
1 : Data affected by changes in population controls in January 2000, January 2003, January 2004, January 2005, and January 2006.

 

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As you can see, since NAFTA passed in November 1993, we have added 23.2 million jobs.

We also need it so eventually we can become the North American Union.

Stop smoking that weed, it's bad for your lungs and your logic.

[Malesherbes]

Agreed. Much of what is claimed to be "free trade" is just a bunch of slogans. The truth lies in the small print, hundreds of pages of it.

[wolfpat]

I don't think you understand my point.

[wolfpat]

Thank you. I was afraid I wasn't being clear.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Then call it freer trade.

[Reagan Man]

I love low prices. I also would like lower taxes and a limited federal government that would spend less of the people's money on liberal welfare state programs that don't work and only undermine our Constitutional Republic. When it comes to trade, I agree with President Reagan:

"We hope that through these negotiations we will be able to convince our trading partners to stop their unfair trading practices and open those markets that are now closed to American exports. We will take countermeasures only as a last resort, but our trading partners should not doubt our determination to see international trade conducted fairly with the same rules applicable to all. I'm committed to and will continue to fight for fair trade. American exporters and American workers deserve a fair shake abroad, and we intend to see they get it. Our objective will always be to make world trading partnerships freer and fairer for all."

The USA was a unique creation by a group of men who fostered individual freedom, as much as individual responsibility. When individual states deal with each other, they're dealing within our Constitutional system of free and fair trade. This is not the case when the US deals with nations of the world. No one is suggesting we isolate ourselves or create strong protectionist trade barriers with other nations. But its critical that the Feds promote a conservative policy agenda on the issue of trade, that advances US sovereignty, US interests abroad, while it respects the right of individual Americans.

[wolfpat]

Okay. That's a little more accurate.

[expat_panama]

how many "conservatives" on FR agree with these leftists.

Only on the FR; the rest of the country sees import tax hikes as a Democrat plank along with gay rights and abortion.  Last week I was fussing with Hedge over a import tax cut that just passed the Senate, and even I was surprised at how partisan it's become.

Let's face it; it's the liberal Democrats that love big government welfare import taxes and it's the Republicans that want tax-cuts and smaller government.

OK, its 90%+ of the Republicans that want import tax-cuts.

[Toddsterpatriot]

So are you in favor of freer trade? Do we benefit when tariffs and barriers are lowered?

[wolfpat]

I'm in favor of FREE trade.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I'm in favor of FREE trade.

A proposal to cut tariffs by 50% is no good, because it's not a 100% cut?