America’s trade policy has become that of a battered wife.
Series.
We submit, because we’re afraid those whose stuff we buy, will get mad.
What is wrong with us?
How did we get to this point??
Let's look at fairly recent history:
In 1980, the U.S. was the largest creditor nation on the planet - by far. We also had a tremendous manufacturing base and very healthy exports. We provided things of "value" to the rest of the world.
In 2008, the U.S. is the largest debtor nation on the planet - by far. Our manufacturing base that produces things of "value" has largely been sent overseas. We have turned into a consumer nation that mainly employs "service-based" industries. Therefore, our exports have become worthless for the most part and our imports have skyrocketed as we consume more and more trinkets produced by areas of the world with extremely cheap labor.
In return, we send other countries our Treasury Bills as IOU's for the junk that they send to us. They (China for instance) have used this money to build their infrastructure and to slowly increase the standard of living for their population.
Now, here's where it gets really bad. What happens when China discovers that its population has a high enough standard of living to buy the things that China produces for us?
America will go into economical meltdown.