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The problem with this line of argument is that it just doesn't jive with reality. Americans just. Don't. Care. That's harsh but I'm serious - everyone knows that working conditions in the Asian factories are bad...but that doesn't stop people from buying goods manufactured in those factories. And it's not a liberal or conservative thing, either. Liberals concerned with working conditions and Trump-servatives concerned with "job killing" free trade will react the exact same way if they are faced with two similar products - one made in the USA with a higher price point and one made in China with a lower price point. They will buy the made in China product in overwhelming numbers. 

I have a pretty serous knee-jerk reaction to "save us from ourselves" governance policies. That's why Trump's trade policies are nonsense to me. The same people jeering him on with respect to his "China and Mexico trade war" meme are buying the heck out of products made in China and Mexico. They could all buy exclusively "made in the USA" products if they wanted to - but they simply will not pay the premium price that those products require. So what - we will elect someone to take that choice away, force higher prices on Americans and save us from ourselves. Bah. 

That's Adam Smith's invisible hand at work. When people say one thing and do something else, pay attention to what they do. Talk is cheap. Americans are far more interested in suppressing inflation than they are with working conditions in Asia or "made in the USA" manufacturing. The proof is in the purchasing. 

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