Pretty much the points I was trying to make
There is just too much extremism from the “Free Trade is good” crowd” when we have trillions of dollars in trade deficits in this decade alone....I should post those numbers.
I was listening to a usually reasonable conservative last night...and just absolutely got the whole Smoot thing wrong. That motivated me to make the post...I knew the GDP of the US still grew in most years of the Depression...hardly “continuing” it. The GDP is the key figure in recording economic growth
I am not against trade, just some of the stupidity on both ends of the issue. We need to get back to trade based on true free market...if there is demand for that product, let people buy it
There was no demand for Communist Chinese products 30 years ago....no one was going around “oohh...I got to have that Chinese dog food”
Unfortunately Reagan would be shunned as a protectionist by the very people who invoke his name in support of free trade.
Michael Reagan on his father.
Take the case of Harley-Davidson. My father protected this American manufacturer of motorcycles against lower-priced Japanese imports. When he acted in behalf of an American company, Kawasaki and Honda reacted by moving their plants to the U.S. and created American jobs for American workers.
His policy was so successful that although he gave five years of protective tariffs to Harley-Davison, they didn’t even need that long a time before they could turn their company around. Given a level playing field they proved their superiority as an American manufacturer.
Ronald Reagan did the same thing with semiconductors, and the auto and steel industries. He also forced the Japanese and others to open up their markets to American products so that trade would be fair. When that didn’t happen he would impose tariffs on those products coming into the U.S., thus protecting American manufacturers.
Sure, he was a free trader who wanted too open up trade, but he always sought first to protect the sovereignty of the United States and its manufacturing base. He did not confuse free trade with giving the store away.
The effects of our current trade policies and the horrendous trade deficit they have produced are a gun pointed at the heart of our economy, and the Republican who can stand up and tell the truth about this problem and its solutions will be the one who emerges from the pack.
Michael Reagan on Ronald Reagan, free trade, and Duncan HunterThere was no demand for Communist Chinese products 30 years ago....no one was going around “oohh...I got to have that Chinese dog food” But the were saying, "I have to have tha new Japanese car" and people were freaking out and calling for tariff hikes then, too.