International Trade

Only if Tarrifs are equal for all!

Bloomberg reported yesterday (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&si; d=ajCJCMXomYcc&refer;=asia) that shipping traffic out of China has dried up in the past month. Few people have really realized the direct implications of this. That China has reduced its exports to the US seems to indicate that consumer demand is drying up over here. This could be the leading edge of some real problems in the economy, scarcity of consumer products are not out of the question, as soon as next year. The worst thing that can happen to our economy would be that consumers begin reducing spending at extreme levels. Air freight into most Western ports is down significantly too. Shipping ports in the Pacific Northwest, according to anecdotal reports, indicate that ships from Asia have been arriving at 25-50% total capacity, a far cry from what it was just a year ago. It doesn't take much work to figure out that if container traffic is down by, according to some figures, by as much a... Read more

Why are we even in these unfair trade deals? We need out of NAFTA, GATT, and CAFTA. Before NAFTA the USA had a 3 Billion dollar trade surplus with Mexico.  After NAFTA we have a 15 Billion Dollar trade deficit.  That's a 18 Billion dollar turn around. It's not Rocket Science.

I think Virile Vagabond and Abichara have summed the situation up perfectly. It would be nice to think that any one country could be self-sufficient but goods and services are an intra-national reality now. Some goods and products the UK used to produce have been usurped by other countries with larger and more efficient industries. We need to keep abreast of developments internationally all the time if we are going to ensure that we trade actively on the world stage keeping our own workers' livelihoods in mind.

International trade is a two edged sword. The advantages are increased competition (which leads to more efficient wealth creation), lower prices for goods and services, and more interaction and understanding between the world's nations and cultures. The disadvantages are that it leads to overspecialization of labor and production (which can cause security and dependence problems) and short-term transition costs as labor is displaced and subjected to more competitive forces. In the big, long-term picture, it is clear that reducing and eliminating protective barriers is the trend (eg NAFTA and the European Community) and that this is necessary for healthy and efficient commerce. The advantages of lower trade barriers are evidenced by the commerce clause within the Federal Constitution, notwithstanding how this provision has been abused and misinterpreted for non-commercial matters. What we are certain to see in the relatively near future are international economic blocs that compete... Read more

Again, this is a no-brainer...except for Democrats, who are stuck in the 1940s when it comes to trade policy innovation. It's a global economy out there, fellas. Take your heads out of the sand and join in.

Can be good as long as it acts in the best interests of humanity and does not promote sweatshops.

this is our survival as a country....definitely more important than gay rights, for example......

Americans need to start making our own things. We need to make electronics and toys in our country, not in Asia. We also need to have our clothes produced in American factories, not in illegal Latin American sweatshops. i wish that America would make its own things, not have them made in other countries.

Success= democracy, free trade, and free-market capitalism. Read Friedman's "The Lexus and the OLive Tree."

International trade is extremely important. Not only for the welfare in the home country, for most of the readers of this comment, the US, but also for the country one is trading with. It's especially importnt if the other country is a poor country, for instance in Africa. Trade is the most useful tool to produce a higher quality of life in these countries! But trade doesn't only produce welfare, but also peace, stability, mutual respect & tolerance & cooperation. This is the most valueble part of international trading, worth more than even the best political relationship! :-) But for the optimal results for the undeveloped countries, it's essential that these products aren't protected with high tax walls in the importer's nation!

I for one am not a proponent of “Big Government” and their involvement in a lot of issues that should be managed at the State level and most importantly within our own homes. I do believe that International Trade ranks a very high prioritization on the scale of political topics. So many things are linked to our international relationships that we seldom stop to think about until some level of crisis arises. Our participation, and even more critical, our leadership provides guidance for developing countries to learn from our success and our failures. Though some jobs do move from our domestic markets to other countries, in whole it promotes more domestic jobs than the number removed. As companies expand their global reach, jobs are increased domestically in the positions required to administer and manage international business affairs. International Trade also plays a very strong role in maintaining our National Defense system and the defense of our allies. We are a worldwide sup... Read more

A couple months ago I heard Heritage's Jerry O'Driscoll make interesting comments at a conference in Chile, saying that international trade is one area where Bush could score an early victory, since there are some good moderates on trade in the opposition party. It looks like Bush might have the political capital to win more than just that, but it would still be very advantageous to further expand NAFTA (the single best thing that Clinton did during his presidency). Bringing Chile and other emerging capitalist countries from Latin America into the free trade zone would be a boon to all involved. I hope that no one still believes the economic fallacies that Ross Perot peddled in 1992 about the "giant sucking sound" that happens as jobs move abroad -- Ronald Reagan would have silenced him by reminding him that U.S. workers are the most productive in the world. Look at where unemployment has been after NAFTA -- never lower. More international trade, particular in the Americas, should ... Read more