The only reason for trade is to get bananas that we can’t grow here, are Japanese car because that’s what I want or maybe that I want to enjoy Irish butter.
But societies and economies can easily exist within themselves. The proof of this is that eventually planet. So obviously if free trade won’t work for a nation, it wouldn’t work for planet either, the free Traders merely want to substitute one group of people for a bigger group of people and pretend that somehow it’s different. If a planet can sustain an economy so can a nation.
Tell it to the Japanese ...
Now, since I'm already replying to you I'll toss the following out for the Free Trade crowd and the Protectionist crowd to chew on:
I bought a beard trimmer at Walmart the other day. Getting past some variations in packaging, I had three to choose from. Brand "A" was made in China. Brand "B" was made in Taiwan. Brand "C" was made in USA. Price, for comparable packages, was around $40, with about a $5 spread. Not much of a spread ... and an easy choice to buy American. In that particular market, the choice by Brands A & B to manufacture overseas really didn't save them anything and lost them a sale. Make of it what you will.