U.S. oil exports are about 1.6 million barrels a day: US oil imports are 13 million barrels a day.
Being both an importer and an exporter of what looks like the same thing is in the nature of trade. Many factors are involved but the most obvious is geography.
For example: if you drill and refine oil in Montana there is a ready market for this oil across the border in Calgary, Canada. So it makes perfect sense to export across the border.
Meanwhile the Canadians drill and refine oil in Quebec and export oil to Americans in Maine.
These sort of examples show why Canada is both the biggest importer of U.S. oil AND the biggest exporter of oil TO the U.S.
Free Trade allows people to make a profit - and to get cheap oil - by moving the oil in the cheapest possible way.
FR’s protectionists would have you believe that exporting oil is somehow evil and wrong. They would apparently love to destroy the economy of Montana and freeze everyone in Maine because they choose not to understand that the free market is the only effective way to use and deploy resources.
Are you for the U.S. having borders? you agree with the international socialists who are for “free” trade. Are you an anarchist ?Should we allow 2 billion third world people to move to the U.S.A. that's what you are suggesting when you say that we allow any foreign product. workers are part of the economy too. We can't allow all who want to move to the U.S.A to do so. Also we can't allow countries to ship cocaine etc. to the U.S.A. , likewise we shouldn't allow China to ship trillions of tons of china products that destroy our industries. We have to defend the border using the Army etc., China is waging economic war against the U.S.A. so the media brainwashes you into not doing anything and calls that free trade. You free traders like the democrat Obama voters are mindless slaves.
The U.S. can have free markets inside the U.S.A. Nothing about free markets says you have to trade with Communist China. America first protect the border against foriegn threats the biggest being China, then illegals.The U.S. didn't trade with China during 40 years of the Cold war. then in 1990 started trading with China and then the U.S. decline began and China rise began.