The federal income tax was also a gift of trade protection. Republicans agreed to support the 16th Amendment in return for democrat support of the Payne Aldrich tariff they so desperately wanted. Trade protection has consistently screwed the economy, the taxpayer, and the consumer. Yet conservatives on this thread demand more of it. Go figure.
I understand your economic theory here. But, it lacks one thing, perspective of what other countries do.
If all countries were roughly the same with a multitude of economic variables, free trade works great. But, I want to hear you address the realities within this theory.
For instance, some countries have a combination of advantages that aren’t considered. Tell me your plan on dealing with : nations who have large state subsidies to industry, large pools of relative slave laborers that nobody can compete with, state sponsored R&D targeting manufacturing and high technology industry, tariffs on US good that are imported.
I’m not being facetious, What are the options to deal with these problems. I mean if there is no serious answers, then it seems reasonable to Trump it. And his plan is to negotiate using the leverage of doing what they are doing to get this problem rectified.