Harry Browne on Free Trade 2000 Libertarian Nominee for President

Shut down welfare state, and let immigrants come

PHILLIPS: I disagree with Harry. I oppose amnesty for illegal aliens. My grandparents were immigrants to this country. I thank God that when they came, they were required to be self-supporting. They could not have gotten in if they posed a health problem. They had to learn how to speak English. The real problem is welfare. As long as people are coming to the United States to stick their hand into the federal cookie jar, they’re coming for the wrong reasons.

BROWNE: The distinction is very clear, as Howard puts it. But the answer is to shut down the welfare state. Shut down the welfare state and people will filter themselves out. They will only come here when they’re looking for the land of opportunity.

Tariffs cost Americans $70B a year

The principal barriers to imports are tariffs (taxes on imported products) that make foreign goods more expensive for you to buy. The tariffs also make American products more expensive by increasing the cost of imported raw materials. And the tariffs make some foreign products so expensive they can’t compete here-leaving you no alternative to more costly American versions.

In addition, when it’s in the interest of companies with the right political connections, foreign products can be banned entirely from the US because of questionable claims that they hurt the environment or their prices are unfairly low.

Import barriers cost Americans about $70 billion a year-roughly about $700 for every American household.

Sweat shops abroad disappear as workers gain wealth

Replace WTO & NAFTA with uniformly low tariffs

Q: So, should we withdraw from all international trade organizations like NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO? A: Yes.

Let in the huddled masses

Open trade policy without NAFTA or WTO

Browne supports the following principles concerning free trade:
• Against NAFTA
• Against GATT
• Against membership in the WTO
• Against imposing tariffs on products imported from nations that maintain restrictive trade barriers on American products
• A nation’s human rights record should not affect its MFN trading status
• Supports MFN status with Vietnam
• Against the trade embargo on Cuba
• Against strengthening the anti-dumping laws
• Support an open trade policy

Russia: No aid; no meddling; just free trade.

Replace all government aid with free trade

No import tariffs, regardless of human rights

Cuba: Lift the trade embargo

Against NAFTA and WTO

Free trade guarantees peace better than military

“Trade aggression” meaningless, since both sides benefit

No China in WTO, because no need for WTO

A: Browne would veto it, not because he doesn’t believe China should be in the WTO, but because he believes there is no need for a WTO. Browne believes in free and open trade with all countries, including China.