America's free-trade hypocrisy 5 Edition

In other words, we want lower trade barriers for U.S. exports to Japan, but if Japan does not restrict its steel exports to the United States, we will raise trade barriers to achieve the same result.These statements clearly illustrate American hypocrisy about free trade. Everyone pays it verbal homa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of commerce (Newark, N.J.)
Main Author GARY M. GALLES Gary M. Galles is professor of economics at Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York IHS Maritime & Trade 14.05.1999
Subjects
Free trade
US exports
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Summary:In other words, we want lower trade barriers for U.S. exports to Japan, but if Japan does not restrict its steel exports to the United States, we will raise trade barriers to achieve the same result.These statements clearly illustrate American hypocrisy about free trade. Everyone pays it verbal homage and insists others should practice it.However, when it comes to us, free trade is sacrificed to the political power of concentrated domestic producer interests, such as the steel industry. That is because what virtually everyone favors is only a one-sided commitment to free trade. We want free trade -- fewer regulatory restrictions and mandates - - when it comes to deciding how to produce our output, because that lowers our costs, increasing profits. We want free trade for those who would sell to us, because that lowers the costs of our productive inputs, reducing costs and increasing profits.