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Thread: Americans Should Adopt Unilateral Free Trade

  1. #1

    Americans Should Adopt Unilateral Free Trade

    RonPaulLibertyReport
    By Jacob G. Hornberger
    7/11/2019


    Given the ongoing destruction of liberty and prosperity from President Trump’s trade wars, tariffs, sanctions, and embargoes, it’s time to think at a higher level, one that goes beyond mere criticism of Trump’s trade antics. It’s time to think in terms of individual liberty, free markets, and limited government, all of which translate to the idea of unilateral free trade.

    What does unilateral free trade mean? It means that the U.S. government should simply lift, dismantle, abolish, repeal, and end all of its tariffs, trade restrictions, sanctions, embargoes, import quotas, and trade wars. No meetings. No negotiations. No demands. No “free trade” agreements. Just free the American people to travel wherever they want and trade with whomever they want.

    Does this mean that other nations will do the same? Nope. Other nations might follow suit but not necessarily. Should that affect America’s decision to adopt a policy of unilateral free trade? Absolutely not! Americans should be liberated to travel and trade with others regardless of what foreign regimes are doing in their particular nations.

    First and foremost is the principle of liberty. When people are living under a regime that wields the power to control the economic exchanges they enter into with others, there is no way for those people to be considered genuinely free. Freedom necessarily entails the right to travel wherever one wants to travel and trade with whomever he wants to trade. Any infringement on freedom of travel and freedom of trade, whether through tariffs, import quotas, trade restrictions, sanctions, embargoes, and trade wars, constitutes a severe violation of the principles of liberty.

    Secondarily is the concept of prosperity and rising standards of living. It is an axiom that in every trade, both sides benefit, from their own individual perspective. That’s because in every trade, a person is giving up something he values less for something he values more. Every time a shopper buys any item from another person, he has improved his standard of living, and so has the seller. At the moment of the trade, they have both given up something they value less for something they value more.

    Thus, whenever the government adopts rules, regulations, policies, or laws that interfere with the freedom of people to trade with others, the government is harming people’s economic well-being and reducing their standard of living.

    Throughout history, people have been forced to live under regimes that wield the power to control trade. It’s time for one nation to lead the rest of the world out of this statist morass. I say that that nation should be America. Here is what I propose: A constitutional amendment stating the following: “No law shall be enacted, by either the federal government or the state governments, respecting the regulation of trade, or abridging the free exercise thereof.”

    The advantage of a constitutional amendment, as compared to simply repealing, ending, abolishing, and dismantling Trump’s sanctions, embargoes, trade restrictions, tariffs, and trade wars is that the American people would no longer have to concern themselves with some president or Congress imposing, willy-nilly, some new restriction on their freedom to travel and their freedom to trade. If Trump, for example, wakes up some morning and suddenly and impulsively decides to start a wage war against China, someone can quickly file suit in federal court to get his trade war enjoined as a violation of the free-trade clause in the Constitution.

    On July 4, Americans celebrated the Declaration of Independence, a document that points out that everyone, including Americans, possesses the natural, God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Isn’t it time for Americans to recapture those rights by prohibiting their own government from infringing upon them? A good place to begin would be the adoption of a policy of unilateral free trade and a constitutional amendment enshrining it into law.


    http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/...ral-free-trade


    This article was originally published at The Future of Freedom Foundation.
    ____________

    An Agorist Primer ~ Samuel Edward Konkin III (free PDF download)

    The End of All Evil ~ Jeremy Locke (free PDF download)



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  3. #2
    The trumpists won't like this.
    Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,--
    Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
    Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
    ‫‬‫‬

  4. #3
    That's like saying America should unilaterally disarm.

    It's a highway to economic destruction and globalist conquest.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  5. #4
    Free Trade with every Country in the World that 'Free Trades' with us.

    Don't Tariff the US , if you don't want to be tariffed' .

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Stratovarious View Post
    Free Trade with every Country in the World that 'Free Trades' with us.

    Don't Tariff the US , if you don't want to be tariffed' .
    It's not free trade if it's only one way.
    There is no such thing as "unilateral free trade".
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It's not free trade if it's only one way.
    There is no such thing as "unilateral free trade".
    I think I get what Ron is saying , but I lol'd too, ''live by example'' , well that works
    in a perfect world but then ;
    in a perfect world there is no need to set that
    example, and in the 'real world' it doesn't work.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Stratovarious View Post
    I think I get what Ron is saying , but I lol'd too, ''live by example'' , well that works
    in a perfect world but then ;
    in a perfect world there is no need to set that
    example, and in the 'real world' it doesn't work.
    I prefer to set an example of a nation that defends its people and their rights.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Stratovarious View Post
    I think I get what Ron is saying , but I lol'd too, ''live by example'' , well that works
    in a perfect world but then ;
    in a perfect world there is no need to set that
    example, and in the 'real world' it doesn't work.
    It's not Ron:

    By Jacob G. Hornberger
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by axiomata View Post
    The trumpists won't like this.
    Government must protect corporations from competition. They are too week and are unable to compete on their own. Also government must tell them who they can and cannot engage in commerce with.

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Government must protect corporations from competition. They are too week and are unable to compete on their own. Also government must tell them who they can and cannot engage in commerce with.
    Government must protect all Americans from foreign governments.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It's not Ron:
    I just glanced at the Title, I see that now.
    Ron needs to do some staff vetting .
    : )

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Government must protect corporations from competition. They are too week and are unable to compete on their own. Also government must tell them who they can and cannot engage in commerce with.
    How does a corporation compete with countries that dump goods here, you reckon corporate corruption
    and collusion with our own government to dump in their countries is a solution, cause that's how the
    Chinese et al compete with us.

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Stratovarious View Post
    I just glanced at the Title, I see that now.
    Ron needs to do some staff vetting .
    : )
    No surprise stratomatic doesn't know who Jacob Hornberger is.

    If Jacob ends up running for the Libertarian presidential candidate against Trump, who do you think Ron will endorse?

    http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...for-president/
    https://jacobforliberty.com/positions/all/

    Jacob on Ron:

    Q: Would you consider running as the VP nominee on a ticket with Ron Paul? Would it matter if you were a Libertarian or a Republican so long as you kept your integrity and your principles intact?

    Hornberger: There are few people I admire more in life than Ron Paul. I consider him the Frederic Bastiat of our time. He is truly one of my heroes. He has shown that being a Libertarian (and a LP presidential candidate to boot) is not the kiss of death among American voters. He was attacked by both his own party officials (I can relate!) and by his Democratic opponents, but he stuck by his guns. Those Texas voters, bless their freedom-loving hearts, put him back into Congress.
    Last edited by axiomata; 07-11-2019 at 08:47 PM.
    Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,--
    Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
    Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
    ‫‬‫‬

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by axiomata View Post
    No surprise stratomatic doesn't know who Jacob Hornberger is.

    If Jacob ends up running for the Libertarian presidential candidate against Trump, who do you think Ron will endorse?

    http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...for-president/
    https://jacobforliberty.com/positions/all/

    Jacob on Ron:

    Q: Would you consider running as the VP nominee on a ticket with Ron Paul? Would it matter if you were a Libertarian or a Republican so long as you kept your integrity and your principles intact?

    Hornberger: There are few people I admire more in life than Ron Paul. I consider him the Frederic Bastiat of our time. He is truly one of my heroes. He has shown that being a Libertarian (and a LP presidential candidate to boot) is not the kiss of death among American voters. He was attacked by both his own party officials (I can relate!) and by his Democratic opponents, but he stuck by his guns. Those Texas voters, bless their freedom-loving hearts, put him back into Congress.

    Strat&Shill seriously needs to sit Ron down and have a little talk with him. Clearly, Ron needs to grow up out of his childish ways, and stop putting people like that on his LibertyReport.
    ____________

    An Agorist Primer ~ Samuel Edward Konkin III (free PDF download)

    The End of All Evil ~ Jeremy Locke (free PDF download)

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It's not Ron:
    But it's still Ron's position.

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Government must protect corporations from competition. They are too week and are unable to compete on their own. Also government must tell them who they can and cannot engage in commerce with.
    The fk..? The texan is also zippy?

    Shifty bastage!

    Gulag Chief:
    "Article 58-1a, twenty five years... What did you get it for?"
    Gulag Prisoner: "For nothing at all."
    Gulag Chief: "You're lying... The sentence for nothing at all is 10 years"





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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Stratovarious View Post
    How does a corporation compete with countries that dump goods here, you reckon corporate corruption
    and collusion with our own government to dump in their countries is a solution, cause that's how the
    Chinese et al compete with us.
    That's the rub....there is no way for an American company to compete with a foreign nation who can import goods with cheaper production costs. People get mad at companies moving facilities overseas, but they're legally obligated to share holders to turn maximum profits. It's magnified with a nation like China since geographically, they are basically the middle hub for materials. Basically, if you took a product made in China and moved all that assembly to the US at the same labor cost as it was in China....you'd still be far more expensive due to your costs on transporting materials from global locations.

    This is why China and the US have been fighting like two boy dogs over influence in Africa...labor costs. The US doing it looking for a Chinese alternative, the Chinese doing it as they are seeing their middle class increase to the point where they're having a hard time filling those low labor cost positions. China is winning that battle, by the way.

    I will say that while I fully understand people's want for a US solely based production of goods (and I like it because it'd solve a lot of unintended consequences we deal with from it), but if we had that tomorrow....our economy would crash the day after. Or worse, we'd have major riots since a lot of paycheck to paycheck families simply couldn't afford to live anymore. It's why I take issue with the way Trump is addressing it, as it won't address root cause, and will simply make it worse. If we're to fix it....we're going to have to take some bad medicine as a nation and grin through it.
    "Self conquest is the greatest of all victories." - Plato

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Intoxiklown View Post
    That's the rub....there is no way for an American company to compete with a foreign nation who can import goods with cheaper production costs. People get mad at companies moving facilities overseas, but they're legally obligated to share holders to turn maximum profits. It's magnified with a nation like China since geographically, they are basically the middle hub for materials. Basically, if you took a product made in China and moved all that assembly to the US at the same labor cost as it was in China....you'd still be far more expensive due to your costs on transporting materials from global locations.

    This is why China and the US have been fighting like two boy dogs over influence in Africa...labor costs. The US doing it looking for a Chinese alternative, the Chinese doing it as they are seeing their middle class increase to the point where they're having a hard time filling those low labor cost positions. China is winning that battle, by the way.

    I will say that while I fully understand people's want for a US solely based production of goods (and I like it because it'd solve a lot of unintended consequences we deal with from it), but if we had that tomorrow....our economy would crash the day after. Or worse, we'd have major riots since a lot of paycheck to paycheck families simply couldn't afford to live anymore. It's why I take issue with the way Trump is addressing it, as it won't address root cause, and will simply make it worse. If we're to fix it....we're going to have to take some bad medicine as a nation and grin through it.
    China isn't more competitive and they never have been, they subsidize their industries and embargo ours, they aren't winning now that Trump is actually fighting back, they are going to collapse.

    Somehow Americans managed to afford living in America better before the great China treason and we could afford it just fine if China disappeared. (which they effectively will)
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    China isn't more competitive and they never have been, they subsidize their industries and embargo ours, they aren't winning now that Trump is actually fighting back, they are going to collapse.
    The issue with that thinking is twofold. First in that China can outlast the US economically speaking due to them being a Communist government and controlled economy, and can manipulate their currency as they see fit. True there are consequences for that, but it's still an option. Not to mention that the more pressure put on the Chinese economy, the more pressure it puts on the US economy.

    Secondly, is the fact that China is EXTREMELY competitive. True, they subsidize markets...but what do you think we do? Don't get caught up in the "We're #1!" mentality to the point you you forget our weaknesses as well.

    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Somehow Americans managed to afford living in America better before the great China treason and we could afford it just fine if China disappeared. (which they effectively will)
    That's because US manufacturing was a global supplier since most other industry logistics were destroyed during WWII, the state of China at the time, and culminated with Nixon taking the US off the gold standard so he could print money left and right to fund the Vietnam war. Nixon's trade deal with China was paramount for him to go full fiat.

    I'm not sure of your professional background, but I have a heavy one in the manufacturing industry (and I don't mean a line worker), and I can absolutely assure you that you'd see HUGE increases in cost if we went full made in American products. I've seen CNC shops closed down because you could import a fully completed brake drum for less than you could buy a raw casting to make your own.

    Our economy is based on those cheap products. And if you cut off those imports without first addressing our economy first, you're going to see a crash like no movie has ever showed you.
    "Self conquest is the greatest of all victories." - Plato

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Intoxiklown View Post
    The issue with that thinking is twofold. First in that China can outlast the US economically speaking due to them being a Communist government and controlled economy, and can manipulate their currency as they see fit. True there are consequences for that, but it's still an option. Not to mention that the more pressure put on the Chinese economy, the more pressure it puts on the US economy.

    Secondly, is the fact that China is EXTREMELY competitive. True, they subsidize markets...but what do you think we do? Don't get caught up in the "We're #1!" mentality to the point you you forget our weaknesses as well.
    China is in much worse shape than you seem to think, they have built their house of cards economy on a foundation of sand, they have been printing money at a much faster rate than us and have wasted untold wealth on excess manufacturing capacity and ghost cities etc.





    Quote Originally Posted by Intoxiklown View Post
    That's because US manufacturing was a global supplier since most other industry logistics were destroyed during WWII, the state of China at the time, and culminated with Nixon taking the US off the gold standard so he could print money left and right to fund the Vietnam war. Nixon's trade deal with China was paramount for him to go full fiat.

    I'm not sure of your professional background, but I have a heavy one in the manufacturing industry (and I don't mean a line worker), and I can absolutely assure you that you'd see HUGE increases in cost if we went full made in American products. I've seen CNC shops closed down because you could import a fully completed brake drum for less than you could buy a raw casting to make your own.

    Our economy is based on those cheap products. And if you cut off those imports without first addressing our economy first, you're going to see a crash like no movie has ever showed you.
    Trump is working on the rest of the economy too and we can buy cheap stuff from other places that don't cheat as hard as China and are not trying to destroy us.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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