Reagan 1983: free trade

[Tinark]

In Reagan's 1983 state of the union address, he said the following:

"America must be an unrelenting advocate of free trade. As some nations are tempted to turn to protectionism, our strategy cannot be to follow them, but to lead the way toward freer trade."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=41698

International trade only destroys a tiny fraction of all jobs that are routinely destroyed, and creates other jobs, for no known net effect. Tariffs are a tax increase on the American public.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/opinion/trump-tariffs-trade-war.html

This White House has flunked Econ 101

 

[Jonahdog]

The voice of St. Ronny from beyond the grave. But few Republicans have the courage to throw that into Trump's face.

 

[Gary K]

And Ronald Reagan also said the following in that speech:

One of out of every five jobs in our country depends on trade. So, I will propose a broader strategy in the field of international trade—one that increases the openness of our trading system and is fairer to America's farmers and workers in the world marketplace. We must have adequate export financing to sell American products overseas. I will ask for new negotiating authority to remove barriers and to get more of our products into foreign markets. We must strengthen the organization of our trade agencies and make changes in our domestic laws and international trade policy to promote free trade and the increased flow of American goods, services, and investments.

He is saying that there needs to be fair trade from both sides. Not just an open market for whoever on one end and a protected system of markets on the other end. That's what we have right now. Tariffs on all our exports, and nothing in return on imports. That's NOT free trade. That's NOT fair trade.

Stop with the misrepresentations.

 

[Jonahdog]

And Ronald Reagan also said the following in that speech:

He is saying that there needs to be fair trade from both sides. Not just an open market for whoever on one end and a protected system of markets on the other end. That's what we have right now. Tariffs on all our exports, and nothing in return on imports. That's NOT free trade. That's NOT fair trade.

Stop with the misrepresentations.

Ah, trade war is easy to win. While Trump moves the goal posts by sending the Army (oh wait, that is illegal) then the National Guard to keep the southern border safe. At a time when there are fewer illegal border crossings now than in the last 20 or so years. What a moron. What a TV "reality" host.

 

[2003cobra]

I think President Trump has wrong-headed plans to inhibit free trade.

And, as Christians, we should be interested in the welfare of all people.

 

[Gary K]

Ah, trade war is easy to win. While Trump moves the goal posts by sending the Army (oh wait, that is illegal) then the National Guard to keep the southern border safe. At a time when there are fewer illegal border crossings now than in the last 20 or so years. What a moron. What a TV "reality" host.

More ignorance on display. What's the matter? Just can't help yourself?

1. We are already in the middle of losing a trade war. We've been doing that for decades. Trump is just the first president since Reagan to attempt to do something about it. I guess you just love to see American industry, businesses and jobs destroyed.

2. Trump is not the first president to send troops to the US-Mexican border. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ilitary-guards-obama-bush-not-first-president

 

[Gary K]

Here is a good arfticle showing just what the status quo in US trade policies has done to our economy. All told we have lost approximately 5,000,000 jobs due to the ongoing trade war against us in just the last 14 years alone. And you wonder why the nation is floundering economically? This is what Obama and Bush did to this country with their ignorant trade policies. And if Trump hadn't said no to the Paris accord this job loss would have kept on accellerating through the loss of coal mining jobs here that would have just been taken up in other countries such as India and China because we would have had no coal to export.

Here is the link to the article. http://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...it-china-eliminated-least-3-4m-american-jobs/

The United States’ trade deficit with China has eliminated at least 3.5 million American jobs since 2001, data reveals.

As President Trump is set to release a package of $50 billion worth of tariffs and restrictions on Chinese investments, the U.S. goods trade deficit with China remains at $29.3 billion.
Since 2001, free trade with China has cost millions of Americans their jobs. For example, in a report by the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2015, about 3.4 million U.S. jobs were lost due to the country’s trade deficit with China.
Of the 3.4 million U.S. jobs lost in that time period, about 2.6 million were lost in the crippled manufacturing industry, making up about three-fourths of the loss of jobs from the U.S.-Chinese trade deficit.
The Atlas


Free trade, like immigration, is an issue that has come at the expense of American workers. With free trade, foreign markets have been readily opened to multinational corporations, allowing them to offshore American jobs while easily exporting their products back into the U.S.
The Rust Belt has been one of the hardest regions hit because of U.S. free trade with Mexico. In total, about 700,000 U.S. have been displaced, including:

• 14,500 American workers displaced in Wisconsin
• 43,600 American workers displaced in Michigan
• 2,600 American workers displaced in West Virginia
• 26,300 American workers displaced in Pennsylvania
• 34,900 American workers displaced in Ohio
• 34,300 American workers displaced in New York
• 6,500 American workers displaced in Iowa
• 24,400 American workers displaced in Indiana
• 34,700 American workers displaced in Illinois

Meanwhile, since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in the 1990s, at least one million net U.S. jobs have been lost because of the free trade deal. Between 2000 and 2014, there have been about five million manufacturing jobs lost across the country as trade deficits continue soaring.
One former steel town in West Virginia lost 94 percent of its steel jobs because of NAFTA, with nearly 10,000 workers in the town being displaced from the steel industry.