Many politicians around the world—not least the President of the United States—talk of trade as an exercise in national power. It is a game in which there are winners and losers, and it is important for national well-being that their nation comes out the winner. Indeed, this appears to be the thinking behind China’s trade policy, which has helped destabilize the global trade system by its bad actions.
The current malaise in world trade is generally driven by the mistaken belief that exports are preferable to imports and that the manufacturing of goods for export should hold a protected position in a nation’s economy. In fact, we only export to pay for the imports, which are things we either cannot get domestically or cannot produce domestically at a cost that affords the most efficient use of our scarce resources. The mistaken belief, which is called mercantilism, is harmful as it restricts individual liberty and causes the misallocation of economic resources.
https://fee.org/articles/the-case-for-free-trade-restated/
The current malaise in world trade is generally driven by the mistaken belief that exports are preferable to imports and that the manufacturing of goods for export should hold a protected position in a nation’s economy. In fact, we only export to pay for the imports, which are things we either cannot get domestically or cannot produce domestically at a cost that affords the most efficient use of our scarce resources. The mistaken belief, which is called mercantilism, is harmful as it restricts individual liberty and causes the misallocation of economic resources.
https://fee.org/articles/the-case-for-free-trade-restated/