Why is the US running away from 'FREE TRADE'?

With a gross domestic product of about $24 trillion, the United States is by far the largest economy in the world. In fact, the US economy is so large that it alone accounts for almost a quarter of the world's entire GDP. Americans devour more products than anyone else and virtually everyone wants to trade with them.

But how open to world trade is Uncle Sam really? Well, probably much less than you might imagine. Have you heard about the United States' traditional isolationism? Do you know about the Biden Administration's latest bid to integrate the US economy with much of Latin America? In this video we tell you all the details about the US trade system.

[GraniteInTheFace]

Plot twist. There was never free trade.

[MrInuhanyou]

The problem with free trade in America is that it's not really for boosting American economy but giving major profits to American corporations who pocket the money and make themselves richer to further influence US policy to their own tune rather than what's best for American citizenry and the health of the economy itself. Which could be twice as big if corporate control over the goverment were not so rampant. It is those corporations that pushed for Chinese cheap labor more than anything.

[joemagarac]

It’s not running from free trade. It’s decoupling from supply chain dependency on mercantilist nations with whimsical authoritarian rulers.

[Sometimes_Happiness]

The USA isn't turning away entirely from free trade, but we're going to be much more cautious about it. The FTAA debacle under GWB and the deindustrialization of the Midwest have greatly soured the American apetitite for unfettered free trade.

[NinjaMan]

I remember the 'Elephant Graph' of wealth distribution as an explanation for increased hostility to "Free Trade." Globally, the worst off have generally benefited by higher wages from shifted manufacturing, and the 1% have cashed in big from globalization. But everyone in the middle has been getting hammered with stagnate or falling wages. Decades of this have only made things worse and resulted in a backlash.

[Capitalist_Pig]

I am an American. I don’t think America is against free trade. I think we are against one sided free trade. We are against trade, where we open our markets to the world, and other countries have tariff and nontariff barriers to keep out our products. Many countries in the world practice Mercantilist strategies. They want to sell everything overseas and bring money home. They don’t want to trade their goods for your goods. Consequently, they impoverish our country and they export social problems such as unemployment to our people maybe we need fair trade not free trade? Maybe we need balance trade?

[danz]

The US has always viewed free trade through a political lens. It has always been unpopular with the US public because it's benefit to the US is cheaper goods. The masses have always felt the cost in job losses outweighed the benefit, but the elites generally favored it and it's importance to the US strategic vision kept the country on side.

Now you have countries like China that want to challenge what the US saw as the principal benefit of global free trade - a global system of liberal democracies. The underlying benefits of free trade are not going to carry the day if the world accepts the Chinese vision for global security. It's only a matter of time.

[jeffreygilbert]

"Running away from free trade"? Can't sprint fast enough! There IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE TRADE, especially with mercantilist nations with authoritarian rules (see Joe Magarac). How can any company compete with an entire nation which rigs the game and practices an extreme form of protectionism? Tell all the Americans that lost their jobs, watched their companies disappear and saw their communities devastated about the merits of "free trade."

[barbadolid]

The US has always advocated for free trade as long as they get the upper hand and the benefit for them is bigger than the harm to adversaries, ie countries that aren't willing to be their puppets. This is not different, it's just restraining the list of puppets and recalculating harms

[dennisspackman]

I think there is a recognition how over dependent the USA is on having so much of it industrial supply chain so far spread around the world and the inability to produce products when some aspect of the supply chain fails. Over the next number of years it likely to have a number of major companies onshore production processes where they can to North America to reduce production uncertainty.

[PapaOscarNovember]

If you love to play soccer, but another team keeps insisting it’s ok for them alone to run holding the ball in hands, then you have 3 choices.

1) accept you will never win. 2) play like the other team and cheat. Or 3) go play the game you love with others who would play by the same rules.

[directxxxx]

USA: Free trade when we have a upper hand
😂😂😂😂

[scpatlnow]

A problem with these agreements not mentioned is that the US often tries to impose its own rules on other countries such as copyright lengths, and other IP issues as well as US multinational companies not being subject to other country's laws when it comes to pollution and other environmental degradation.

[conodeen]

“Free trade” is not just “goods” but also people. Rich industrialized nations can produce ‘stuff’ efficiently and sell it at a great profit to poorer nations. Poorer nations can ‘export’ people and services. Free trade without free movement of people is a nothing but a ruse to help rich nations get richer and keep poor nations poor.

[keyboardmanyoutube]

If they are winning, they will call for free market; if they are losing, they will say that is it

[AntonioReis]

As Latin American, I find it funny how he talks about the “great opportunity” we could be missing by refusing to make a trade agreement with the US.
The US did not think twice to protect their industries while they were not competitive. And the only reason left-leaning leaders rose to power in the 00’s was the failure of the right wing to promote economic growth in spite of (or perhaps because of) 1990’s economic liberalism.
By the way, the US still doesn’t think twice to refuse a trade agreement they don’t see as beneficial for themselves. Please, don’t portrait it as folly when this posture comes from a Latin American country.

[R.-.]

World trade should be about getting resources or products you can't obtain locally to improve your standard of living, not undermining your local economy with cheap imports from nations with poor working / environmental standards. That means selective trade, not free trade is best. Not tariffs, just an allow / block on a list of products and resources from certain countries.

[cageybee]

14:20 because the US would economically dominate their domestic markets, out-producing locals and causing unemployment and dependence. protectionism is bad for the world at large but good for the specific country that implements it, atleast in the short-term.

[Heynmffc]

We have to make sure the money printer continue to go brrrr

[alexmwangi]

To Uncle Sam it's only free trade when he is the one dominating.