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Notes -
I think context matters here. I’m generally in favor of enforcing fair trade more so than free trade for tge simple reason that some countries are protectin* their industries from competition and therefore it’s not always fair trade. This isn’t always bad, as a sane economic policy would tend to protect industries that are either in early development, or of vital importance to the country. The issue I have with the tarries is that I fear they are too short term to do anything good — the minute a neoliberal government is established in the USA, those tariffs are gone. No one is therefore going to invest in American manufacturing if he thinks that import policy will revert to the old way in which it’s much cheaper to build the factory in a third world country and import it.
I think having some manufacturing in the USA is good and should be supported with tariffs. It provides decent jobs for people who cannot go to college, it is good for security because it means that the country cannot be choked off from things it needs to survive or wage war. And I think it’s good for trade that the United States be at least neutral if not a net exporter as this builds national wealth.
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