The Chinese government owns a wide swath of businesses but then again what’s the difference between the government owning it or just ruling it by diktat like in this country?
Free trade applies to individuals. Whether that individual trades with another individual or a government or a church or a business it is still a choice best left to a free individual. I would not ban trade with any country unless we are at war with them. At war means the kind were Congress declares it and the President conducts it.
Free trade is a simple concept that means allowing an individual to buy and sell as he see fits. Anything less means government interference or outright command and control.
I will never understand why so many people on a website named Free Republic wish o have the same government that brought you the IRS, Pentagon, EPA, OSHA, FTC, FDA, FAN, FRED, SALLY MAE, FCC, FDIC, also be placed in charge of telling us who we may and may not trade with or setting the terms of trade.
Exactly. It makes zero sense. But mercantilism (which is what Keynesianism is based on) runs deep in our culture.