I guess I now see where the appeal of Pat Buchanan came from. I thought protectionism among conservatives went the way of the dinosaur. The question is how is protecting producers are the expense of consumers fair?
It's not about producers vs consumers. It's about American jobs. When consumers lose their jobs they cease to be consumers.
Not protecting American industries hurts consumers big time. Look at how many former consumers are now on food stamps. They can't afford to buy the cheap imports.
You pay for cheap imports twice. When you buy the import and when you pay for the Americans that are now idle.
If we were at full Employment, it would make sense to make use of cheap overseas labor. But we are not.
How is it fair to allow foreign producers to pay a fraction in taxes of what domestic producers have to pay? How is it fair to consumers to see their jobs dissappear overseas?