What happened to America’s long protectionist tradition? In the end, America only seriously turned away from protectionism as a Cold War gambit to prop up capitalist economies abroad and tie them to the U.S. Geopolitics trumped domestic economics.
Ironically, our old protectionist playbook for economic development is the same one, in many respects, that China and other nations are using against the United States today. Back when we were the ascending economic power in the late 19th century, it was Britain that complained about “unfair trade!” They were right, of course—but given that nobody forced free trade upon them, it was their own fault. Today, having forgotten our own history, we can’t even recognize the game being played against us, let alone figure out how to counter it. We will continue to pay a high price in lost jobs and declining industries until we wise up.
we are rising up with these tariffs. I so want our industries and manufacturing back
Exactly right
The Asian plan for development used successfully by Japan, South Korean, and now China and probably a few smaller nations: lure US plants and jobs with lower cost labor, gain maximum possible access to the US market and allow minimum possible access to your home market.
And back and in '50s and 60s, Japan and South Korea were cheap labor.