Free Trade is the most Pragmatically Optimal policy a country can have in regards to trade. Protectionist policies are always implemented with incomplete information available to the policy makers. Protectionism takes away from the national welfare, in order to promote a targeted aspect of the economy. It places the aggregated interests over those of the individual industries and/or regional economies. Protectionism hits the local consumer the hardest. Protective tariffs increase the price of imported goods to promote goods that are of lower quality for a higher price, simply because they are domestic products. The increase in demand for those goods also adds to the price of domestic goods. Tariffs also indirectly affect related goods and industries. Protectionism is harmful.
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