Free trade is vital to the world order, old and new. It is based on the venerable principle of laissez-faire: when people are buying and selling, governments should stay out of the way. Since the early 17th century, nations have been conducting commerce on the theory that lower tariffs mean lower prices for consumers, higher profits for merchants and greater prosperity for all. Countries that are busily shipping goods across their borders may be less likely to dispatch armies. And opening markets to imports is a way of opening societies to ideas.
Despite lapses into protectionism, the U.S. has generally been...
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