Analysis of Arguments For and Against U.S. Trade Protection Essay

According to Free Trade Organization, Dan Ikenson, policy analyst, claims “Few trade policies engender more bitterness and international ill will than the U.S. antidumping law. For many years, that law has been the weapon of choice among domestic producers seeking to quell import competition.”(zeroing, April 27, 2004)

The North American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as the NAFTA, is a trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico launched to enable North America to become more competitive in the global marketplace (Amadeo, 2011). The NAFTA is regarded as “one of the most successful trade agreements in history” for its impact on increases in agricultural trade and investment among the three contracting nations (North American Free Trade Agreement, 2011). Supporters and opponents of the NAFTA have argued the effects of the agreement on participating nations since its inception; yet, close examination proves that NAFTA has had a relatively positive impact on the economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

From an academic standpoint, economists overall believe that free trade would benefit the economy more than instituting tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers. However, the reality is quite different. Politically, tariffs help to strike a balance between social welfare and the politicians’ goals. One theory is that campaign contributions are needed for re-election; and to achieve these funds, politicians will weigh this need against welfare-reducing protection for industry lobbyists (Magee, 2011). The models would suggest that the tariffs should actually be much higher than they are due to the low efficiency cost of tariffs compared to the substantial gains provided for the producers (Magee, 2011). However, developed countries actually have very low tariffs. There are six possible explanations for why developed countries have such low tariffs when the political theories behind why we have tariffs at all would suggest they should be higher.

Tariffs are placed on imports and foreign products. They were originally made to provide revenue for the federal government, go before income or property taxes.2 However, tariffs now have a different uses and are looked at differently. Tariffs increase the price of a product, lowering its demand and sets aside domestic producers from foreign competition.2 Because of this, countries places higher tariffs on goods that will be considered import sensitive.2 The U.S. also imposes taxes on the income that is earned instead of placing taxes based on consumption,which is called a Value Added Tax.1 This is a motivator to move companies

As a result, they are forced to move their business into other countries or make their costs more competitive in order to compete with domestic industries. Moreover, once a country enforces protectionism on their products, other countries tend to retaliate by enforcing even stronger protectionist policies. This is called a “trade war” and further prevents international businesses from exporting their products to other countries without paying high tariffs. An example of this is how the United States enforced extremely heavy protectionist policies on their products and services against Canada’s airplanes and other products. This greatly hurt Canada’s industries, and they retaliated by increasing the tariffs on their products; thus creating a trade

“The Greening of Trade Wars” Forbes, 183(8), 26. Retrieved May 10, 2009, Forbes.com.) Although many believe that protectionism may indeed afford some advantages for domestic business, opponents of protectionism argue that due to the interdependence of global trade and financial systems, these advantages are offset by many negative consequences (William A. Kerr. (2009). “Recession, International Trade and the Fallacies of Composition.” The Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy: Special Section on Geographical Indicators, 10(1), 1–11). For instance, an unintended—and unavoidable—consequence of subsidies and tariffs is higher prices for products available to consumers. Protectionist policies also tend to lower the overall quality of goods available and ultimately increase the tax burden on the general public. Writing in the “No” selection for this debate topic, Professor of Economics at California State University Robert Krol describes the findings of various economic studies of international trade. He looks at the effect of trade on employment and wages as well as examining the costs of trade restrictions. From his research, he concludes that “Although international trade forces significant adjustments in an economy, as the evidence shows, the costs of international trade restrictions on the economy outweigh the limited benefits these restrictions bring to import-competing industries.” (p. 10) The opposing view, taken from Prospect Magazine, is

Facing intense competition and influx of cheaper steel products, U.S. steel producers have been persuading U.S. government to protect U.S. companies from dumping and other unfair competitive practices via either tariffs or import quotas on the steel products of offending companies in foreign countries.

In modern economic policy of nations and states, the tariffs a tool to tax goods and services being imported. The principal desired outcome for this tool is to create security for the domestic industry from the imported product, which may be cheaper for consumers to purchase. (McEachern, 2015)

The international trade sector of the U.S. economy continues to draw attention in economic and political circles. It is true that, the international market has become increasingly important as a source of demand for U.S. production and a source of supply for U.S. consumption. Indeed, it is substantially more important than is implied by the usual measures that relate the size of the international sector to the overall economy. This paper explores the role international trade now plays in the U.S. economy and answers the important questions for economic policy: How does international trade affect economic well-being? Who gains and who loses from free

Trade protectionism is a policy that restricts the imports of goods. The purpose of protectionism is to protect domestic industries from imports , the products coming into the country , increase exports ,products coming out the country ,and improve the countries economy . One of the most effective method of protectionism is the tariff. The tariff is a form of taxation on imports ,it increase the price of imports and is taken in the receiving country, for example if the goods coming by the sea , the tariff will be taken in the port on the country . Other forms of protectionist include five major non-tariff barriers (NTBs) such as quotas, subsidies , currency control , administrative regulation and voluntary export restrains.

Protectionism by way of the price mechanisms such as tariffs, subsides, quotas, export licences and import duties (Rugman, 2009) are just some of the measures which can seriously impact on a foreign company. For example the American steel industry was afforded protection under the Bush administration when large tariffs were imposed on foreign steel imports in order to safeguard the jobs of the national steel workers (Mankiw and Taylor, 2008).

Main protectionist policies include tariffs, quotas, embargos and voluntary export restraints, and Adam Smith’s idea of absolute advantage has been developed further to explain international trade. In recent years, protectionism has become closely related to globalization during which the influences of trades spread almost everywhere, so people insist upon the study of social deformities generated by improper policies on international trade and the task of pointing them out with a view to remedy. There are certainly both economic and political purposes of trade

One of the greatest international economic debates of all time has been the issue of free trade versus protectionism. Proponents of free trade believe in opening the global market, with as few restrictions on trade as possible. Proponents of protectionism believe in concentrating on the welfare of the domestic economy by limiting the open-market policy of the United States. However, what effects does this policy have for the international market and the other respective countries in this market? The question is not as complex as it may seem. Both sides have strong opinions representing their respective viewpoints, and even the population of the United States is divided when it comes to taking a stand in

Superficially, restricting imports looks like an effective way of supporting an economic sector. But it biases the economy against other sectors which shouldn 't be penalized. Governments need to be armed against pressure from narrow interest groups, and the WTO system can

In theory, high tariffs and importation quotas are beneficial to domestic economies because they reduce the competition from foreign manufacturers for domestic industry. However, the effectiveness and advisability of tariffs and quotas is severely constrained by various factors that cannot be ignored. First, the relative weakness of the U.S. dollar makes it difficult for domestic manufacturers to compete internationally. Second, the fact that other nations (such as China, most notably) artificially manipulate the value of their currency to keep their domestic manufacturing costs low undermines the value of tariffs on their goods. Third, neither tariffs nor quotas is an effective mechanism when the goods at issue are no longer even produced domestically, as in the case of many of the cheaper consumer goods that the U.S. typically imports in high volumes from foreign manufacturers. Fourth, one consequence of controlling foreign competition through tariffs and quotas is that they are usually targeted to specific foreign nations, which can simply open the door to other foreign manufacturers from other nations to whatever extent those mechanisms are effective against specific nations targeted by them.