Last night's debate included a lengthy discussion on free trade. Trump is for heavy import tariffs. One key point I felt was missing was that, to an extent, goods being made overseas helps those economies be free from having to beg for foreign aid. Should Americans really be makes socks and underwear?
Overall, I'd advise candidates to advocate the following:
1. Punish those that abuse Intellectual Property - China will buy one tractor, reverse engineer it, and then start selling it at a lower costs. They don't have to pay for capital required to develop it.
2. Lower our corporate tax - Incentivize Americans to make stuff at home by changing the tax structure. This is more effective than trying to levy and import tax.
3. Get the EPA and other government beaucracies off the backs of industry! - Just try opening a factory in the US and see how much cost is added by the EPA. Pollution is real in China. I've been there; it's gross. However we don't need to go to the extremes. There wasn't a pollution problem in the 90s, yet the EPA has since gone off the deep end. Instead of requiring a 97% reduction in pollution, they want a 99.99% reduction. Yet that last 2.9% costs billions of dollars. What results actually hurts the global environment. Instead of producing a good with 97% reduction in pollution, the EPA demand 99.99% reduction, so the manufacture goes to China where there is 0% reduction. How does that actually help the global environment?