“I think you are correct in that free trade is not necessarily the answer in all cases especially in the case of those nations that trade unfairly,i.e,China.”
The Kenyan Pirate takes public stances against world leaders who alledgedly persecute “labor organizers”, then acts as though doing business with the Red Chinese slave colony is the most natural thing (I know that relationship is not his doing, and was helped along by many Republicans as well). If we only traded with companies that met our ideal for work and environmental conditions, those countries would be as costly as the US to deal with.
That is why in some cases the old way of doing things thru bilateral trade agreements has a place in our trade policy. Case in point India. India is a perfect example of what you are referring to. They are moving from a third world country to a quasi developed nation of due process with a democratic tradition. India, not Europe, is the economic future. 1.2 billion people, a huge potential market, particularly as they become more affluent. They have something to offer as well as do we with 25% of the world’s wealth. Bilateral trade agreements are pegged to assure a true balance of trade between the 2 nations going forward with provisions written in to activate punitive tariffs in certain sectors to assure that the trade maintains a overall balance in the future. It is mutually beneficial because they have access to 25% of the worlds wealth for their markets while we have access to a large chunk of the world’s population that will be getting increasingly richer for out markets