Of course that was long ago, before free-trade advocates made inroads among the corporate interests that (believe it or not) still have inordinate influence on American elections.
So it's not any surprise to me that a good portion of FReepers would insist on "fair trade," "buy American" and other nonsense. Any overlap with those who RAVE about Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell--and actually read what they've written over the last thirty 30 years--is relatively small, in my estimation. Either you're for freedom to choose your products or you're not; there's not much in-between. Both Drs. Williams and Sowell would agree: it's a human right to choose what you consume, and from whom.
(I could name names, but they'll likely announce themselves over the course of this thread once red flags have been waved in front of them.)
The Republicans have strayed far from their high-tariff roots: most people see them as the free-trade party, because the Democratic Party is beholden to the labor unions. However, if we are willing to tax domestic corporations at a rate of 35%, why not foreigners?
Seriously, if we have a tax rate for corporations at 9% or 10% (as some Republican candidates have proposed), why should the average tariff be only 2.5%? Even if we double import taxes to 5%, that’s still only half of what we charge citizens to do business in America. Free trade is great in theory, but why favor non-citizens?