Trade and globalization are here to stay. The share of global GDP due to trade, imports plus exports, has grown from 25 percent of global GDP in the mid-1960s to 60 percent today. The share of U.S. GDP due to trade over that same time period has grown from 10 percent to 30 percent. Contrary to the narrative put forward by some, today’s shifts in trade policy have largely not been driven by “good deals” and “bad deals” but on very real and conflicting economic forces. Facile references to “free trade” increasingly have little to do with economic reality. Our nation’s attitudes toward trade have been shaped by the evolving struggle over who has been helped and who has been disadvantaged by trade policy as our economy has developed.
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