Business Standard

Trump's protectionism continues long history of US rejection of free trade

The fact is the US has never been a truly free trade country - one with virtually no barriers to trade with other nations - as some people seem to think

US President Donald Trump waves to journalists as he arrives during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: AP/PTI)
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US President Donald Trump waves to journalists as he arrives during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: AP/PTI)

Giulio Gallarotti | The Conversation
Free traders have vilified President Donald Trump as a pernicious protectionist because of policies such as hiking tariffs, abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership and saying he’s prepared to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement.
They fear his policies will hurt the US economy by restricting access to foreign goods. But are these policies really so radically different from past administrations?
Absolutely not. The fact is the US has never been a truly free trade country – one with virtually no barriers to trade with other nations –

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