Just to give an idea of where "free trade" came from ...
Thanks, we need more postings of historical documents. It might shed a little light on some of the problems we face today. I believe arrogance is the big problem, especially in the Senate. Such folks truly believe they are more enlightened and smarter than all the generations that came before and they keep pulling the same policies that never worked in history.
Did Adam Smith testify? Bastiat?
I thought the idea of "free trade" went back at least that far.
The concept of free trade existed long before it was given a black eye by being mentioned Karl Marx. The problems facing the USA now are not "free trade" but trade balance. Labor is too cheap in the countries that produce goods for American import, as well as labor is to expensive in the US for goods that America exports. We are buying more than we need and can't sell what we make. That is not free trade.
Can you elaborate? And please include a definition of "free trade."
I thought our founding fathers were in favor of free trade.