![]() ![]() In its pursuit of protection for the steel sector, as but one prominent example, the Trump administration invoked Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows a president to block imports if he deems it necessary for national security. One need not argue the theoretical nature of such a linkage one need only look at the experience of the Trump administration for a vivid empirical demonstration of how the policies interact. ![]() One reason for this embrace was the intimate connection between free trade and three other pillars of a conservative approach: a market orientation, a commitment to limited government, and a belief in responsible internationalism. President Reagan, in a 1988 Thanksgiving address, decried protectionism and said, “One of the key factors behind our nation’s great prosperity is the open trade policy that allows the American people to freely exchange goods and services with free people around the world.” Both Presidents Bush continued the embrace of free trade as an ideal, even as they oversaw policy exceptions. Yet, at least since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has been philosophically inspired by free trade. Bush blocked steel trade with a safeguard. In the 1970s, Richard Nixon imposed an import surcharge. In the 1950s, Senator Robert Taft helped block the creation of an International Trade Organization. In 1930, Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot- Hawley Tariff. It surely cannot mean opposing all trade barriers and backing all liberalization initiatives. What does it mean to be the party of free trade? ![]() Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), 5/16/19 ![]()
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