Question

Unions in developed nations often oppose imports from low-wage countries and are strong advocates of restrictive trade barriers to protect what they view as “unfair” import competition. Is such competition “unfair”? Explain your answer with a well-constructed argument and examples to illustrate your point(s).

Answer 1

Labor organizations have a duty to protect their organization's union members. There is a constant struggle in specific industries between employers and the corporations for which their members work. Their duty to their members is to negotiate fair wages with the organization in good faith and to maintain or increase employment within the organization (A Brief History). In this era of globalization, economists advocate free trade, it is understandable that unions feel that their jobs will no longer be protected if the United States imports goods from low-wage countries.

Adam Smith, a well-respected economist, proposed the idea that absolute advantage countries must produce the goods for which they have a competitive advantage. It supports free trade as it means that what a business will import and export will be dictated by the demand. Many countries support free trade, and governments are making an effort to prevent imports from imposing barriers or tariffs that would restrict free trade. Nevertheless, the Unions believe that these limitations should be enforced to prevent the importation of goods from low-wage industries, even if they have an absolute advantage over them.

Of example, the U.S. imports from China millions of products that are no longer produced in the U.S. We do this because the manufacture of the goods in China is much more cost-effective because the cost of manufacturing and labor is much lower. A company may also have more technological advances than another, which will enable them to produce and manufacture more efficiently;