Obama and trade

From Reuters: "Obama targets NAFTA but says supports free trade"

"Asked how other countries should interpret his position, Obama responded that he supported free trade but wanted it to be fair."

I don't buy the "fair trade" argument. Usually it means that we want it to be fair for our own local workers, producers, etc or it means that we want it to be fair to the workers in their countries by requiring labor standards and the like. Translated, it means we don't want the other countries to import products at such a low price that it puts local companies out of business, so we'll do whatever we can to raise the price of inports or to prevent them from coming in the first place. The way we'll do that is we'll include anti-dumping rules (a bad idea that sounds like a good one) and we'll strong arm them into minimum wage laws, worker safety laws, and the like (another bad idea that sounds good). The effect is that we as consumers pay more than we need to for the products we buy, leaving less money in our pockets to buy other things. More later as to why these things are bad.

Here is another bit about Obama's position on Nafta and free trade (HT: The Club for Growth)