What Is Free Trade?: An Adaptation of Frederic Bastiat's "Sophismes Éconimiques" Designed for the American ReaderBastiat, Frédéric
General
What Is Free Trade?: An Adaptation of Frederic Bastiat's "Sophismes Éconimiques" Designed for the American Reader
Bastiat, Frédéric
Free trade; Tariff -- United States
In this hypothesis there are two ways in which the State can secure
the national market to the home producer.
The first, is to put upon foreign iron a duty of $10. This, it is
evident, would exclude it, because it could no longer be sold at less
than $26; $16 for the indemnifying price, $10 for the tax; and at this
price it must be driven from the market by American iron, which we
have supposed to cost $24. In this case the buyer, the consumer, will
have paid all the expenses of the protection given.
The second means would be to lay upon the public an Internal Revenue
tax of $10, and to give it as a premium to the iron manufacturer. The
effect would in either case be equally a protective measure. Foreign
iron would, according to both systems, be alike excluded; for our iron
manufacturer could sell at $14, what, with the $10 premium, would thus
bring him in $24. While the price of sale being $14, foreign iron
could not obtain a market at $16.
In these two systems the principle is the same; the effect is the
same. There is but this single difference; in the first case the
expense of protection is paid by a part, in the second by the whole
of the community. I frankly confess my preference for the second
system, which I regard as more just, more economical, and more legal.
More just, because, if society wishes to give bounties to some of its
members, the whole community ought to contribute; more economical,
because it would banish many difficulties, and save the expenses of
collection; more legal, because the public would see clearly into the
operation, and know what was required of it.
But if the protective system had taken this form, would it not have
been laughable enough to hear it said: "We pay heavy taxes for the
army, the navy, the judiciary, the public works, the debt, &c. These
amount to more than 200 millions. It would therefore be desirable that
the State should take another 200 millions to relieve the poor iron
manufacturers."
This, it must certainly be perceived, by an attentive investigation,
is the result of the Sophism in question. In vain, gentlemen, are all
your efforts; you cannot give money to one without taking it from
another. If you are absolutely determined to exhaust the funds of the
taxable community, well; but, at least, do not mock them; do not tell
them, "We take from you again, in order to compensate you for what we
have already taken."
It would be a too tedious undertaking to endeavor to point out all the
fallacies of this Sophism. I will therefore limit myself to the
consideration of it in three points.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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