Ironic back in 1776 Free Traitors™ would have been given one last chance to tell us how foolish we “protectionists” are from the gallows.
Well, let’s be historically fair. There was no such thing as a “free trader” anywhere on earth in 1776. “Wealth of Nations” had only been written that year, and even Smith did not believe in full, unvarnished free trade.
Both George Washington and Alexander Hamilton (as well as Adams and Madison) believed in subsidizing those industries as were deemed essential to national defense-—iron and textiles. Washington realized that you cannot engage in free trade with a nation that is militarily much stronger than you because although free trade “works” (eventually) your nation wouldn’t survive long enough to see the benefits.
The same can be said of China today. Theoretically if you could survive long enough, yeah, China could be beaten in free trade-—but the US would be a hollowed shell.
The other big problem is that there is no such thing as free trade anywhere on earth: every nation has extensive regulations that tip the field to their own businesses. That’s why in the late 1800s the key word was always “reciprocity.” American administrations carefully reduced tariffs only if they were met by completely equal reductions on American exports.