[rogue yam]

No country is going to maintain a strong economy without a manufacturing base.

This is hand-waving nonsense.

Define "manufacturing base". How much manufacturing is necessary to constitute a "manufacturing base" and thus enable a "strong economy".

Some people simply can't distinguish between rational economic reasoning and demagogic sloganeering. I wonder if perhaps you are one such person.

[central_va]

Define "manufacturing base". How much manufacturing is necessary to constitute a "manufacturing base" and thus enable a "strong economy".

I dunno, why don't you ask your ChiCom friends that question. How's the weather in Beijing?

[DannyTN]

"This is hand-waving nonsense."

The real hand-waving nonsense, is ignoring the 23% unemployment, rate while chanting that a manufacturing base isn't important in a free market economy.

Wasn't it Einstein who said that insanity is repeating the same actions over and over again and expecting a different result.

We've tried free trade with unequal trading partners such as communist china and it didn't work. It strengthened our enemies and weakened and indebted us.

Let's try what the founding fathers did, and use tariffs to fund our government and protect our markets except where free trade really is in both countries benefit and not just the underdeveloped one.