Written by: Tiara T.
Take a moment to look at the tags on the clothes you’re wearing. Are any of your clothing items made in the USA? Chances are, probably not.
Our economy, whether Americans like it or not, is extremely dependent on international trade. We must sell, produce, and provide services to the world’s population if we want to keep our jobs and buy things at a reasonable price.
What makes trade important?
1. American jobs rely on international trade. Did you know that over 40 million Americans rely on trade for their career? This could be a variety of things, whether it be for importing technology parts, oil, clothing, food.
2. Business endeavors. According to the US Department of Commerce, “98% of the roughly 300,000 U.S. companies that export are small and medium-sized businesses, and they account for one-third of U.S. merchandise exports.”
3. Food. Have you ever driven west of Wisconsin and taken notice of how much land we have in America? Our nation is very fortunate to have lots of land for farming, and we definitely should be using that to our advantage. 25% of farm products are exported each year, which helps boost our economy.
Many Americans wonder if our country could survive without international trade. The answer, yes-- but definitely not thrive. Although the US often claims they are energy self sufficient, that isn’t too accurate. Over 3 billion dollars a year in electricity actually flows from Canada, alongside billions in natural gas and oil. However, the US does have fossil fuels, but not enough capacity to generate the electricity with current generators. The US could invest in manufacturing more generators so we would be energy independent, but that would also cost a lot of money.
While America does produce a huge variety of food, we would be missing out on items such as bananas, nuts, and coffee beans! Imagine not getting to have your morning coffee anymore.
Well-known Scottish economist, Adam Smith, said back in 1776 that “wealth is determined by productivity”. You get more productive if you have division of labor-- or what Pewaukee econ classes called it-- specialization. If you have some nations specialize in making fabric, while others specialize in technology, while some specialize in farming, each nation can invest in those types of equipment and workers. This makes the global economy more productive. With trade agreements throughout the world, nations are able to get products at a much cheaper price because other countries specialize in it, thus having lots of it. When each nation specializes in their own thing, people won’t have to pay as much for their products. A shirt that we can get for $10 could easily become $50 without trade.
International trade is an important part of our economy. It ensures that we keep our items at an affordable price, and allows us to live much more luxuriously. Allowing for international trade continues the concept of specialization, a concept that provides people around the world the ability to eat comfortably and have a roof over their heads.
Works Cited
Litan, Robert E. “The ‘Globalization’ Challenge: The U.S. Role in Shaping World Trade and Investment.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/articles/the-globalization-challenge-the-u-s-role-in-shaping-world-trade-and-investment/.
“The Benefits of International Trade.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 15 Jan. 2021, www.uschamber.com/international/international-policy/benefits-international-trade.
“The U.S. Trade Deficit: How Much Does It Matter?” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-trade-deficit-how-much-does-it-matter.
I had no idea that 40 million Americans have careers that are dependent on international trade. There are a lot of people who think America would be better off if we just closed off our borders, but the fact is that we need international trade to run effectively as a country. Specialization definitely helps make countries that work together more efficient. I think the world would be significantly different if international trade didn’t exist. Countries would have to try to do a hundred different things decently rather than just doing one or two things really well.
ReplyDeleteAll the statistics provided in this piece were very informative. I never comprehended how much of an impact international trade has on everyone's everyday life. A specific stat that I struggle to wrap my head around is the fact that an estimated 40 million American's have careers that depend on international trade. I always knew the spectrum and how big the market was, but again I was completely clueless of the impact it has on everyday life.
ReplyDeleteTrade is extremely important for the survival of our country. While there are some negative effects caused by trade, such as the destruction of industries competing with foreign industries with a comparative advantage, the benefits certainly outweigh the drawbacks in most cases. I don't think that completely free trade is the right solution, but I also think that a country deciding not to trade is seriously hurting itself, its economy, and its consumer base.
ReplyDeleteWow nice blog post! I have always wondered what would happen if we ended international trade and started the process of Autarky. It's only possible because we have such a large and diverse economy. If a smaller and poorer nation tried it it would have disasterous effects. It still wouldn't be good for the USA, but we could manage.
ReplyDeleteThis was extremely informative and enhanced what I already knew about international Trade. I've learned that the world doesn't work well without trade and for the most part it's a win-win situation for both ends and makes the world a better place.
ReplyDeleteAll the statistics provided in this piece were very informative. I never comprehended how much of an impact international trade has on everyone's everyday life. A specific stat that I struggle to wrap my head around is the fact that an estimated 40 million American's have careers that depend on international trade. I always knew the spectrum and how big the market was, but again I was completely clueless of the impact it has on everyday life.
ReplyDeleteYeah I never thought the reason for instate tuition was because of taxes. i thought it was just and incentive to stay instate for collage. I wounder how much of the tuition cost could be reduced to try and reduce student debt. posture trainer
ReplyDeleteI thought that this post was incredibly informative. I thought it was a very efficient writing style to bring up common misconceptions or ideologies regarding international trade and how the U.S. is dependent on trade, which definitely helped prove your central argument. I have heard of others that believe the U.S. doesn't need international trade, so your piece correctly addresses this and elaborates on how dependent the U.S. truly is on international trade in an economical way.
ReplyDeleteI like this post because it was very informative, and taught me many new things about global trade like, how America is a non-independent powered nation, or how 40 million employees in the US are involved in global trade. Although one thing that I think could be improved upon this essay is by making a stronger argument, because saying that global trade is very important is a no-brainer. But I thought that it was also formatted really well in a way that drew me into the topic in the hook, and then including bulleted points on why exactly trade is so important. I picked this blog out of all of them because I thought it would be interesting to learn something new about global trade and I have definitely succeeded in that.Also it's surprising how relevant this topic is because everybody deals with this in some sort of way when ordering online or even just buying clothing and other items from stores.
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