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Page 73
age four times as productive as the Japanese worker, it is wasteful to use him to produce any goods in the production of which he is less than four times as productive. It is better to produce those goods at which he is more productive and trade them for the goods at which he is less productive. Tariffs do not assist the Japanese worker to raise his standard of living or protect the high standard of the American worker. On the contrary, they lower the Japanese standard and keep the American standard from being as high as it could be.
Given that we should move to free trade, how should we do so? The method that we have tried to adopt is reciprocal negotiation of tariff reductions with other countries. This seems to me a wrong procedure. In the first place, it ensures a slow pace. He moves fastest who moves alone. In the second place, it fosters an erroneous view of the basic problem. It makes it appear as if tariffs help the country imposing them but hurt other countries, as if when we reduce a tariff we give up something good and should get something in return in the form of a reduction in the tariffs imposed by other countries. In truth, the situation is quite different. Our tariffs hurt us as well as other countries. We would be benefited by dispensing with our tariffs even if other countries did not. 2 We would of course be benefited even more if they reduced theirs but our benefiting does not require that they reduce theirs. Self interests coincide and do not conflict.
I believe that it would be far better for us to move to free trade unilaterally, as Britain did in the nineteenth century when it repealed the corn laws. We, as they did, would experience an enormous accession of political and economic power. We are a great nation and it ill behooves us to require reciprocal benefits from Luxembourg before we reduce a tariff on Luxembourg products, or to throw thousands of Chinese refugees suddenly out of work by imposing import quotas on textiles from Hong Kong. Let us live up to our destiny and set the pace not be reluctant followers.
I have spoken in terms of tariffs for simplicity but, as already noted, non-tariff restrictions may now be more serious
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2 There are conceivable exceptions to these statements but, so far as I can see, they are theoretical curiosities, not relevant practical possibilities.

 
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