Protectionism is bad how and why?

Answer 1

Protectionism is a great idea if you are a politician and you want votes now. Protectionism means that an industry is being paid by the government to keep making a profit on goods that are being made at too high a price. In other words the business can't compete. So rather then forcing the business to close down naturally importers are charged for importing goods, this pushes up the price of the goods the extra money that is taken in by the government is then given to the inefficient local manufacturer so that he can make a product at a loss and still make money. Protectionism is bad because it protects inefficient businesses. So it is important that the U.S. practice free trade only with countries that also practice free trade.