I am pondering and wondering why we need trade ‘agreements’. If we just don’t tariff incoming goods, why would we care if the other party does the same thing?
According to the article referenced by Jeff, “Indeed, the United States does not even need the mutual agreement of any other nation to implement free trade. The U.S., with just such a piece of legislation, can establish free trade unilaterally; even if other nations kept some or all of their own trade-restricting barriers in place, America would still be better off.”
Does anyone know of an example where this has occurred? It’s one thing to say that we would be ‘better off’, but it would be far better to have an example.
I can only guess that these agreements are designed to serve other purposes such as favoring certain parties etc.
