The benefits of protectionism:
-repatriation of industry
-general increase in economic activity
-decreasing or no trade deficits
-balanced Federal budgets
-higher levels of baseline employment
-less social stress
-less political will for socialism
-increased national security
-raising interest rate will not crater the economy
The problem with our current trade treaties is we have open borders for illegal immigrants and legal ones as well as legal products and mostly illegally imported fakes - flooding our market.
And yet Japan limits imports of nearly anything from US, ditto China, India, etc.
So free trade is everyone sends everything and anyone they can to our nation, but there is no free exchange the other way.