James Bacchus
James Bacchus
One of the few issues our two major political parties appear to agree on is their mutual embrace of protectionism in international trade. They are both increasingly committed to raising barriers to trade while ignoring the global rules that make freer trade possible. Yet a recent national survey by the Cato Institute shows that, with some quibbles and qualifications, a solid majority of the American people favor more trade.
What explains the stark inconsistency between what the people say they want and what the Republicans and Democrats, and especially those who wear those party labels in elected and appointed office in Washington, seem determined to give them?
According to the national survey, 66 percent of Americans believe global trade is good for the American economy; 64 percent believe it has increased material abundance in their own lives by increasing the variety of the products they can buy; 58 percent say it has improved their standard of living; 63 percent want to increase trade with other nations; 57 percent say doing so is good for their communities; and 53 percent have a favorable view of free trade.
Seventy-five percent of Americans worry that tariffs are raising consumer prices. Two-thirds of them, 66 percent, would oppose paying even $10 more for a pair of blue jeans due to tariffs—even if those tariffs are meant to help US blue jean manufacturing. In addition, three-fourths, 75 percent, worry that special interest groups are lobbying the government to impose tariffs or other restrictions on trade.
Virtually none of this is reflected in the current trade policies of our major political parties. Under the thrall of Donald Trump, Republicans have largely abandoned their longstanding historical support of free trade. Likewise, the decades-long struggle between free traders and protectionists for ascendancy in the Democratic Party has apparently ended in triumph for anti-trade protectionists. » Read More
https://www.cato.org/blog/trade-policies-both-parties-ignore-what-most-americans-say-they-want