Sen. Rand Paul: All Trade Is Mutually Beneficial

EXCERPT:

PAUL: “Well, you know, I’m kind of old fashioned, Larry. I don’t like taxes and I don’t want more of them. I also think that if you tax something, you get less of it, and I don’t want less trade. I want more trade. There’s a fundamental argument we have to have in this country. Is trade good or bad? The president and his counselor seem to think that in trade someone gets ripped off. The truth of the matter is this, that all trade is mutually beneficial. And really, the U.S. doesn’t trade with China, you trade with Walmart. So when I go to Walmart, if I pay $10 for a shirt, I want that shirt and they want my 10 bucks. And we both go away from the deal having succeeded. We mutually benefited. That’s the only reason trade happens. And then if you add it all up and say, oh, China’s ripping us off, that makes no sense. Trade deficits are not real accounting.”