Disagree.
http://cafehayek.com/2011/08/quotation-of-the-day-40.html
There is much more about free trade vs protectionism at the Cafe Hayek blog.
The only thing that forced American auto companies to improve their product was competition from abroad. Competition did not hurt the auto industry; unions did.
Yeah, America is on the verge of a Depression ... GO FREE TRADE!
Bing... GO!
Of course, it's much more difficult to compete when one is running a union shop. Thus, it's typical for union slugs to blame the competition for the pain.
Union = labor monopoly.
Monopoly = higher costs, fewer choices and the stalling of capitalism