You're right, because only the government can properly decide the correct flow of trade.
No, because there is no such thing as “free trade” or “free markets” - in any other area other than illicit or contraband goods.
Start with the idea of a “free market” in the US, within our own borders. Is there a “free market” inside the US? No. The tax codes (NB the plural) are full of all sorts of social engineering. The Federal Reserve has gamed what your money is worth now and in the future, as well as has gamed what entire asset classes are valued at, thanks to their machinations with monetary policy.
Now let’s move outside our borders: is there any such thing as “free trade?” Not any more than there are “free markets.” When the Chinese can play games with the value of their currency vs. our currency, when they put huge amounts of their surplus (gained by exporting their goods and incredibly low prices into our market thanks to their pegging their currency to the dollar) into our credit markets in order to keep consumer loans flowing into the consumer’s hands at manipulated and low rates... that’s not either “free trade” or a “free market.”
Repeat after me: There is no spoon.
Corollary: the government spends too much money, so it should muck up the flow of trade.