6 Positions That Prove Donald Trump Hates Free Markets

5. Opposition to Free Trade

Republicans value free trade for the jobs it creates as well as the way it fosters economic growth, cooperation, and innovation. Donald Trump wants to place tariffs on foreign goods and is opposed to free trade agreements which benefit the US economy.

The National Review writes:

A great deal of Donald Trump’s silly and illiterate trade talk presupposes the gutting or repeal of NAFTA, the trade accord between the United States, Canada, and Mexico that went into effect in 1994, with his dreams of punitive sanctions and blockades. Indeed, NAFTA is a favorite whipping boy for populists Left and Right, a reminder that populist conservatives have much more in common with populist progressives such as Senator Bernie Sanders than they do with the political tendency that connects Adam Smith to F. A. Hayek and Ronald Reagan.

The author goes on to detail the facts about NAFTA:

U.S. manufacturing has not been undermined by NAFTA. In real (inflation-adjusted) terms, U.S. manufacturing output today is about 68 percent higher than it was before NAFTA came into effect. Real manufacturing output today is nearly twice what it was in 1987, when NAFTA’s predecessor, the Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement, was negotiated. Manufacturing output per man-hour has skyrocketed as investments in information technology and automation pay off, which is the main reason a smaller share of the work force is employed in manufacturing even as output continues its steady climb. Fewer people work in our factories today because we’ve gotten better at running them.

Trump also embarrassed himself by grandstanding against the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement because he felt it benefited China too much– even though China is not part of the TPP.