Beating Back Predatory Trade
Article Summary and Author Biography
Laissez-faire economists contend that trade barriers make domestic industries lazy, fat and greedy. But five U.S. industries afforded import relief, automotive, steel, machine tools, semiconductors and textiles, have dramatically improved productivity, boosted R&D and recaptured market share. Free trade champions who plead the case of the purportedly forgotten consumer ignore the benefits of import relief such as savings on retraining dislocated workers. Government can intelligently structure policies to give threatened industries a second chance.
Alan Tonelson is Research Director of the Economic Strategy Institute. He wishes to acknowledge the research assistance of Nisha Mody and Hallet Hastert.
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