“Among other things, protectionism in the past gave us fatty, uncompetitive industries like our auto and steel industries in the ‘70s.”
I know that’s the popular narrative, but it’s far from the whole story.
The nation of Japan—not the Japanese steel industry, not the Japanese automobile industry, but the entire nation of Japan—targeted our industries for destruction.
This was not “free and fair competition,” but an illegal, hostile attack on our economy. Their primary tactic, called “dumping,” is a violation of international law and any number of trade agreements.
While under attack from what the Chinese called “the brown dwarves,” our industries were also beset by the left: taxes, regulations, ridiculous union demands, et cetera, et cetera, formed the anvil against which Japanese dumping hammered them.
They hurt us much more with their “expanding market share” onslaught than they did at Pearl Harbor.
An extra-large dose of protectionism, which was entirely absent from our policies in the 1970s (Don’t know where you got that notion. Leftist college professor?) might just have saved our steel and auto industries.
“Their primary tactic, called “dumping,” is a violation of international law and any number of trade agreements.”
You’re correct. The Chinese will adjust their currency against any tariffs and claim their products are “inferior” when they flood markets with cheap goods.