re: U.S. Textile Makers Praise Quotas on Chinese Imports (WSJ Online, 5/14/05)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111607540440633812,00.html

To the Editors:

Following on President Bush's first-term steel tariffs which were obviously a violation of international trade law, the Administration now comes through again as a champion of protectionism at the expense of the consumer with tariffs on Chinese textiles.

The politics are understandable but the decision is not forgiveable. Restraint of free trade is nothing more than a tax increase on all Americans. It's possible that some American workers might lose their jobs, but our economy is large and strong enough to re-absorb those workers into new lines of work, hopefully at higher pay.

Alternatively, the American factories can learn to compete better. Even if labor costs are higher, if a company can not be productive enough to compete given the advantage in transportation costs and the willingness of consumers to pay a small premium for "Made in America", it is outrageous to force American shoppers and taxpayers to subsidize that company.

"Leveling the playing field" is almost always a euphemism for "bailing out a non-competitive industry to buy a few votes at the expense of 99% of the country."

President Bush claims to understand that free trade is almost always beneficial to both parties yet he is consistently willing to make protectionist laws that would make economic dinosaurs like Fritz Hollings proud, while reducing choices and raising prices for all Americans.