Cafe Hayek reader Tom York asked me to reprise this post from June 5th, 2013. Given the current state of SandersTrump (in)comprehension of the economics of international trade, I’m happy to do so. Here ’tis:
Fair Trade
Here’s a letter to the Washington Post:
Harold Meyerson dislikes foreign trade, in part because it destroys some American jobs (“Go slower on free trade,” June 4). And so Mr. Meyerson favorably quotes one of Congress’s staunchest protectionists, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH): “A trade deal, says Brown, ‘should both protect workers and small businesses and better prepare them for globalization.’”
Let’s make a deal. Government will agree to protect only those American workers and small-business owners who in return agree to stop buying foreign-made products.
For example, American steel workers will get protection from steel imports only if they, in exchange, agree to stop buying the likes of Toyota cars, Samsung televisions, Ryobi hand tools, Ikea furniture, Shell gasoline, Amstel beer, vacations to Cancun, and musical recordings by foreign artists such as the Beatles, Elton John, and k.d. Lang. They must also promise to stop buying the likes of bananas, cinnamon, and vanilla and, indeed, even American-made food items if these are shipped to their favorite restaurants and supermarkets in foreign-made trucks – or in trucks equipped with tires made by Michelin, Bridgestone, or some other job-destroying foreign company. These workers would be permitted to drink only Hawaiian coffee; they must quit drinking the Colombian, Guatemalan, and Ethiopian coffees that they’ve become accustomed to drink. Oh, and absolutely no diamond jewelry, as those gems come from Africa. (Sorry, ladies.)
Small-business owners likewise will get such protection, but only in return for their agreement not only to stop consuming foreign-made products, but also to never sell their outputs to non-Americans. These businesses must, in addition, promise to use in their operations only American-made inputs – such as aluminum, wood, chemicals, and insurance services – even when foreign-made substitutes are available at lower prices or in higher qualities.
Deal?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030Bonus points to readers who can explain why it would be economically incorrect to point out, in response to my letter, the correct fact that no bananas, vanilla, or cinnamon – or even diamonds – are currently produced in the United States.
