Well, duh, simple: Because they don’t work.
Farmers have been taken in by the whole “free trade” twaddle too. In the 90’s, it was claimed that “free trade” would open up vast new markets for US ag commodities and relieve us of some of the surpluses that keep ag prices low in the US.
Did farmers export more product? Yes, but we’re losing our previously strong trade surplus in ag goods - ie, imports are going up as fast or faster than exports are. And with these food imports are coming black eyes for the US farmer. eg, “mad cow” is found (time and time again) in Canada, and US beef producers take the hit as a result. Food safety issues are being imported from Mexico and China, and who is now going to be regulated with all manner of food safety regulations? The US farmer. The foreign farmers won’t have to comply, of course.
Free trade is a farce. Oh, it is sold and peddled under the rubric of “free markets” but it is anything but. When one sees the mountain of regulations that a US producer need comply with to export into various other countries which is not reciprocated by the US, we see free trade for exactly what it is: a way to open up US producers to competition from off-shore and a extra-national bureaucracy that prevents US producers from being able to challenge the quality or regulatory compliance by foreign producers.
If we want “free trade” then what the GOP should be advocating are “bi-lateral, reciprocating” trade agreements. No more GATT/WTO style agreements. We should make trade policy with nations on a nation-by-nation basis, and trade policy should be reflexive - if they lower barriers, we lower barriers. If they increase regulation on our exports, we increase regulation on imports from that country.
I for one attribute Zero's and the Democratic landslide last Nov. to the Republican's indifference to the blue collar crowd and support of this labor arbitrage program. Throw in a lap dog media and McStupid didn't have a chance.
Thus I suspect every dollar wasted by Zero and Co. should be charged against whatever money we saved from free trade.
So it's beginning to look like this so-called free trade/new age economics is a zero sum game.
Time will tell.