Protectionism is a process that, in a certain way, protects the work that is made in America but at the same time, it created trade barriers with other trade partners which isn’t exactly positive. For example, if there is cheap wood coming from European industries, then a barrier is created to stop the American wood producers from suffering with the coming of cheaper foreign wood. There is a lot of discussion going on about this and in this article, we’re looking at the pros and cons of protectionism.
List Of Pros Of Protectionism
1. More jobs in the United States
Protectionism is essentially a tool that is going to create a lot of jobs in the United States. Since other sources of materials are going to be blocked with it, then there are going to be a lot more job openings in the United States for us to be able to produce the materials ourselves and to be viable. Essentially, if we have to produce things locally, we need the locals to help us produce them.
2. Can support the re-emergence of the middle class
If we have more jobs in our homeland than our citizens are going to have more disposable income – this means that the middle-class will be coming back. Protectionism defends a lot of industries that need to employ people for jobs that don’t require a degree or even advanced education. As such, a wider variety of Americans is going to be able to get a job without “extra” requirements regarding the qualifications they currently have.
List Of Cons Of Protectionism
1. Can create a trade war
While protectionism in the United States might look pretty positive, we need to look at the big picture in this situation. If the United Stated do implement Protectionism, other countries might not think it is that good for them (and it isn’t) and this can cause them to decide to implement protectionism policies of their own. If this happens, the prices of pretty much everything are going to go up, and business is going to go down.
2. Can reduce living standards
We need a lot of imported goods to keep the living standards we currently have. If we start producing these goods locally and stop importing them at cheap prices, this means that the price of these goods is going to become a lot higher. If protectionism is implemented, the cost of a lot of things we are used to being cheap might just become really expensive.
3. Might not create jobs at all
Even though protectionism sounds great in theory, it is also possible that the creation of jobs through the policy is an illusion. Since the prices of goods are going to increase, there might no longer be a high demand for them, which means that there is no need to improve local production.
