Trade Restrictions Quotes
There was much New England dissatisfaction with the disproportionate power held by the Southern states as a result of counting three-fifths of the slave population for apportioning Congressional seats. In addition they were disproportionately hurt by the War of 1812 and the Embargo on trade with England. Secession was proposed but failed to get a majority. A number of proposed Constitutional amendments were voted upon. The super-majority herein required would have diminished their vulnerability to Southern power.
In England at the time, the liberals were for free trade and the conservatives against. In both England and America both liberals and conservatives have flip flopped their roles in foreign trade several times. Free trade is a two edged sword; it aids domestic growth, employment and prosperity in some cases and hurts them on others. And there are always winners and losers for each example of free trade within any country. The result is no long term commitment and much flip flopping.
In this case the tariffs were imposed not to protect national industries but to simply raise revenue. In the early years of the United States, almost all of the Federal Revenue was raised this way.
Referring to NAFTA, CAFTA and other international trade agreements
Harris opened up trade with Japan for the United States. The problem at the time had nothing to do with the potential economic effects of trade on domestic industry or balance of payments, but for the Japanese was strictly a cultural problem. They were in great fear of what today some call “cultural imperialism”--the adoption of a foreign culture. The Japanese had been so fearful of cultural influence of foreigners that when some Japanese fishermen’s boat had been sunk and they had been rescued by foreign seamen and returned to Japan, they were executed as they had been “contaminated” and could “contaminate” the rest of the population.
Shortly after the Cuban revolution, the U. S. placed an embargo on the Fidel Castro regime. Medicine was one of the critical items that hurt Cuba the most. However, the Cubans, facing the problem of inability to import any U. S. patented medicinals, moved to a two pronged approach to health care. First since the could not get the medicines for the ill people, the places an enormous emphasis on preventive medicine which U. S. medical experts have always advocated, but America has been slow to implement. The second effort was to create their own drug research and manufacturing industry. They were amazingly successful at both even as the rest of the communist regime was crumbling. At the time of this quotation, Cubans had a HIGHER average lifespan than Americans, and the Cuban drug industry had become the 3rd largest in Cuba earning hard currency for the country. The had over 200 international patents on medicines and were selling to 57 countries.
Turgot was one of the most advanced economic thinkers in Europe and realized, even before most of the Americans, that by freeing itself England, that the Americans would be forced to become free traders and that in turn would make America a major Economic power despite the fact that American economic policy over the years vacillated between protectionism and free trade.
