We’d all be richer if the ideal NAFTA reform would happen: elimination of tariffs — no government involvement in trade at all.--John Stossel
I don’t often agree with John Stossel, but on tariffs he had me saying yes until his last thought.
Stossel writes:
Yes, trade hurts some Americans who’ll struggle without new skills or the right training. But many, many more are much better off because of trade.
Stossel correctly says that tariffs are generally a bad idea, and I agree. Until the very end of his piece, I was in agreement, but then he slipped in a more general attack on government, and I disagree with that.
It is a small matter, but due to NAFTA I was able to work in Canada as an engineer. I think that was good for me, for Canada, and for the USA. I’m glad NAFTA made that possible.
New NY 23rd 
There has never been free trade or fair trade. Proablbly never will be. But we can try to make trade as fair as possible.
One problem we have in the US is the lack of government support for workrs. For example, why are labor costs lower in China? One reason is that the Chinese government provides health care as a general rule. So employers do not have to include that in the cost of labor. So the US, which is basiclly a capitalist system, is competing with socialist systems which can pay less because their workers are taken care of by the state. As a result, US companies hire workers subsidized by the socialist government…and call it “free enterprise”.
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I understand that US made products would be more competitive if the cost of employee health care weren’t included in the cost of sales. Yet workers wages would still be relatively high here, and I don’t see how that could change. Another factor is the cost of our military–as a percentage of GDP, the US spends 60% more than China and more than three times more than Canada.
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