Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The U.S. is a large enough nation that it could theoretically supply anything it needed from within its own borders, but in the essential economic equation: consumption = production, trade can play an important part by increasing productivity. There are Capitalism reasons for trade with other countries but the increase in productivity it provides is the most important; some countries have a production advantage on some products that the U.S. simply can't match. Trade is a win-win situation; however, it's fraught with exploitative opportunities, both to and from.

Some kinds of trade are good: balanced trade is awesome; tit-for-tat, they buy as much from us as we sell to them. Fair trade, the concept that Workers in other countries must be paid similar, and have the same regulations, as in the U.S., is fraught with ambiguity but workable because it's constantly being scrutinized. "Free" Trade, however, is not so good. Yes, everyone benefits but The 1% benefit more, and there is no redistribution of wealth so it concentrates, which is a drag on liberty, the single most important ideal, more important than trade or productivity.