- Apr 1, 2011
- 170,110
- 47,261
- 2,180
Even if we have zero tariffs and countries like South Korea have 100% tariffs, we still benefit from free trade, but it's difficult to convince a steel worker who just lost his job as a result that he should take one for the team.Agreed...yet some economists keep claiming free trade is good and tariffs bad...even though we have never had free trade with most of our trading partners.i agree with free trade 100%, but China abuses it. They steal our intellectual property wholesale. They steal movies and show them to Chinese audiences without paying for them. They steal our patents. They publish copyrighted books without paying royalties. They ship aluminum to Mexico so they can send it accros the border without paying duty on it.Much like Japan and South Korea. Yet American economists seem to always sing the praises of Free Trade.Yeah, uh-huh, then perhaps you'd like to explain the fact that China has become a world economic power and has had a thriving economy for years behind the protection of high tariffs.
South Korea does the same thing. I had a friend in college who went to South Korea and bought all his text books for almost nothing.