By allowing Americans to specialize in what they produce best, free trade raises productivity, wages and living standards for the large majority of workers. Like technology, it leads to new products and new industries while enabling workers to produce more in a given hour of effort. Trade with other nations allows American consumers to enjoy a wider range of goods and services at lower cost than if we produced everything for ourselves. We can enjoy abundant supplies of fresh fruit year around, more affordable shoes and clothing for our children and the latest technology in medical equipment and consumer electronics. Free trade benefits producers as well as consumers.
American exporters gain through access to a much larger world market.
Free trade can also bring lower-priced inputs, through parts and raw materials imported from abroad, which leads to lower prices for finished goods, expanding exports further. Increased competition from imports spurs innovation among domestic firms while protecting consumers from potential monopolies. For these reasons, nations that pursue free trade policies today tend to prosper while those that hide behind protectionist barriers stagnate. The American economy has become increasingly intertwined with the rest of the world. Today the United States is both the world's largest exporter and its largest importer.