Trade barriers in the United States, such as tariffs, quotas, and anti-dumping laws, make it impossible for Latin American flower growers to sell their products profitably in the United States, giving them the incentive to grow marijuana or opium poppies instead. Textile protectionism in the United States has caused hundreds, if not thousands, of small Asian textile companies to go out of business because of our tariff and anti-dumping policies. All of these restrictive trade policies reduce social harmony and invite retaliation. Wherever such economic nationalism occurs, it breeds conflict. A policy of free trade can counteract nationalistic tendencies, reduce disharmony, overcome petty prejudices, and raise the standard of living for the vast majority of the world's population.
Free trade exists only where there are no barriers to voluntary exchange.
The Benefits of Voluntary Exchange Voluntary exchange has the effect of breaking down barriers, increasing tolerance, and reducing economic nationalism. It destroys provincialism and replaces parochial attitudes with a more global outlook. The invasion of American jeans, videos, and other products played a substantial role in the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. Western television broadcasts and products gave captive nations a realistic look at the West, which made it increasingly difficult for leaders to spread lies about capitalism and the non-Communist world. Governments and special interest groups would have us believe that it is better to buy a shoddy, domestically made product at a high price than a lower priced, better quality, foreign product.