And have been having some interesting conversations here on FR with conservatives who (presumably, unknowingly) support globalist free trade, while I argue for tariffs on imports; a more Nationalistic view but one self-describe conservatives have real issues with.
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If I remember my economics major correctly—eight years back—it’s that total utility (or worth, or however you want to say it. The ‘official’ term is utility) is maximized when goods and services flow freely.
With one caveat, and that is, ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL.
The problem is that all these ‘trade’ agreements are anything but equal. The countries that we have these agreements with aren’t looking to maximize utility, and so they set their own tariffs and taxes, which ultimately makes the US worse off than if we had no trade agreement at all.
We can’t change what THEY do, but we can change what WE do. Putting up tariffs can snag some of that utility back from the nations taking advantage of us... and a willingness to fight back economically may well convince them to lower their own trade barriers, or at least not raise them too high.
“The problem is that all these trade agreements are anything but equal. “
Exactly. As soon as a country attains economy of scale in an industry, as we did in 1900 in just about every industry in existence, that country wants “free trade” to export and expand.
But now, as China and Japan used tariffs to gain advantage, we’ve lost ours.
“The countries that we have these agreements with arent looking to maximize utility, and so they set their own tariffs and taxes, which ultimately makes the US worse off than if we had no trade agreement at all.”
Yes, the US has been targeted.
“We cant change what THEY do, but we can change what WE do. Putting up tariffs can snag some of that utility back from the nations taking advantage of us... and a willingness to fight back economically may well convince them to lower their own trade barriers, or at least not raise them too high.”
Exactly. We need to control our borders, people and goods.