Idea of the Week: Free and Fair Trade with protections for labor and the environment

This weeks announcement that the President intends to raise tariffs on steel and aluminum is a poor move because it is not targeted or forward looking. Free and Fair Trade that protects labor and the environment should be the commerce goal of this country. Protectioinism and traveling back in time to when Americans dominated markets it does not anymore is not the remedy for citizens in the depressed parts of the country. Getting out of trade agreements that have yielded a net positive for the country is poor policy decisions. New markets and new industries with free and fair trade agreements backed by unions and union wages along with environmental sensitivities is the ticket to renewed prosperity to our people that have yearned for prosperity to grace their neighborhoods. It is possible. It has happend in some parts of our country already. It can happen allover. We just need an administration that can lead the way.