Robert Murphy on free trade and the fallacy of reciprocating trade

In general, the case for free trade does not assume the other trading partners are reciprocating...  Just like, you're the coach of a basketball team who says, "Hey guys, I want to pass a lot.  That's how we're going to improve our competitiveness.  And we're going to be more successful on the court if we pass a lot rather than always just giving the ball to our star player and him trying to drive all by himself and just go shoot."  And you wouldn't say, "I don't know, coach, what if we're playing against some other team and they just always give it to their star players?  Does that mean we should reciprocate?"...  No, there are lots of situations where, if something makes sense to do, it doesn't matter if the other team's being stupid.  The smart thing for you to do is still the smart thing for you to do.  That's what the standard case for free trade is.  You're not making your people richer by imposing an extra tax in between them and potential sources of supply.

~ Robert Murphy, "Correcting Vivek Ramaswamy & Charlie Kirk on Tariffs," infineo, November 8, 2024