[Recourse]

Reagan was a staunch advocate of free trade and opposed tariffs. Ronald Reagan’s words are worth recalling: "The freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations." (reprinted from The Cato Institute).

Reagan himself was a dreamer, capable of imagining a world without trade barriers. Reagan himself is the politician first credited with proposing NAFTA. In announcing his presidential candidacy in Nov. 1979, he had proposed a “North American accord” in which commerce & people would move freely across the borders of Canada & Mexico.
Anti-free-traders are modern-day Luddites who support the fringe left's protests against the WTO, GATT, etc. Would it surprise you to discover that most of the protestors against free trade are from the far left? After all, Tom Hayden (formerly of the SDS) was in Seattle a few years ago to protest against free trade. Does it give you comfort that avowed Marxists agree with you? See below:

http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/02/wto.protest.perspective/

Free trade across international borders is not just good for business or good for job-creation. It is good -- period.

So said President Bush in a remarkable speech earlier this year, when he made the case for free trade on unabashedly moral grounds. "Open trade is not just an economic opportunity, it is a moral imperative," he told the Council of the Americas in May. "Trade creates jobs for the unemployed. When we negotiate for open markets, we are providing new hope for the world's poor. And when we promote open trade, we are promoting political freedom. Societies that open to commerce across their borders will open to democracy within their borders -- not always immediately, and not always smoothly, but in good time."

Protectionism distorts markets, hurts importers, kills jobs, and sows distrust between nations. But the foremost reason governments should refuse to impede free trade is that it is theft. It steals from the many to enrich the few. It deprives individuals of the right to control their own property -- to choose for themselves where to buy the products they want and to sell the goods they own.

[jpl]

It's true that Reagan was in principle a free trader and opposed to tariffs, but part of Reagan's genius was that while idealistic, he was also a realist and knew that in the real world a tariff is sometimes beneficial and necessary. That's why he personally intervened to save a great American company, Harley-Davidson, from predatory foreign maneuvering.

[RockyMtnMan]

Actually Reagan was a proponent of Trickl-down economics. In order for trickle-down to work capital must be invested domestically to create new jobs/businesses/consumers. Your assumption is that "free-trade" encourages domestic investment which, it does the exact opposite of ecouraging investment in new developing markets elswhere in the world.

Capital flows have been flowing in record numbers to third-world nations not to new businesses here at home.

[Tokhtamish]

Protectionism distorts markets, hurts importers, kills jobs, and sows distrust between nations. But the foremost reason governments should refuse to impede free trade is that it is theft. It steals from the many to enrich the few. It deprives individuals of the right to control their own property -- to choose for themselves where to buy the products they want and to sell the goods they own.

It is, indeed, free trade that steals from the many to enrich the few. It directly converts wages and salaries of dispossesed workers into the bonuses and shareholder equity of those at the top. It consigns whole batches of non and semi skilled workers to permanent underclass status and is creating a future in which it will simply not be possible to earn a decent living above the age of 55.

Free trade is an historical accident, the ideology of whatever happenned to be the dominant exporter of the time. Pre 1945 America never had any use for it. It was only the 1945-1973 America that was free trade. Similarly England was free trade in its Victorian heyday. But the failure to shift to protectionism when economic rivals emerged prevented British industry from having a strong enough capital base to meet the demands of the First World War. If England had followed Joseph Chamberlain's wise advice and shifted to protectionism, maybe England would have had a strong enough industrial base to equip its own army instead of going in hock to the US (and that is a lunacy behind libertarian free trade. the assumption that since the world will always be at peace you can let whole important chunks of your economy go overseas. that is why, every nation has a protected, subsidized agricultural sector because you can't outsource food production.). It is not, your passionate, romantic convictions aside, in any way a moral imperative.

Your vision of pure free trade is one where governments, frankly do not do their jobs in protecting the well being of their country. It is in China's interest to pursue a mercantilist policy to build the industrial and technological base it will need to challenge the US ten years from now. It is in every nation's interest to see to it that their people have jobs so the leaders do not lose their jobs. So your vision of free trade is a fantasy world, like "free love", that collapses in the face of self interest.

[ex-snook]

Reagan did not consider 'free trade' as swapping production factory jobs for consumer cheap underwear. That's why supporters were 'Reagan Democrats'.

PRESIDENT REAGAN,  AMERICA THANKS YOU FOR INDUSTRY TARIFF PROTECTION

Harley cruises toward 100
BY RICK POPELY
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO--Harley-Davidson is cruising in the fast lane as it celebrates its 100th birthday, an easy rider in a bumpy economy filled with potholes.

In the midst of a recession, Harley's motorcycle sales and revenue rose to record levels in 2002, continuing a 17-year string of record growth.

This year, demand for 2003 models decked out with 100th anniversary trim is such that dealers can charge more than suggested retail price for the bikes.

Harley is an American success story in an industry dominated by Japanese brands. The company, with help from timely tariffs, resurrected itself from the manufacturing junk pile 20 years ago and captured the hearts and dollars of Baby Boomers, a generation that rejected American automobiles in favor of imports.

[Gargantua]

Your best efforts to divert the proper focus of this from America's disappearing manufacturing base (the PROBLEM) to 'the benefits of free trade' (the RED HERRING) will not be successful, and I will see to it (as will many other FReepers).