George W. Bush Quotes

Consider trade protectionism. It's been tried - and found wanting - since the Great Depression.

The arguments for protection are more easily made attractive than those for free trade.

The thing that we have to worry about is this protectionist movement that has reared its head again in this country

There are some who want to move us back to the days when we were protectionists and keep all goods off our shores.

NAFTA was much more popular among US corporations than GATT, because NAFTA is highly protectionist in ways that GATT is not.

Trade has suddenly become massively unpopular. I think that's massively unjust. I think free trade has been wonderful for America on balance.

The United States can't keep a completely open system if the rest of the world is less open. The United States may have to take a leaf out of the book of Japan, China, and Germany, and have protectionism inside the system.

It is difficult to overcome protectionism when times are bad.

Trade is injured when it is not allowed to follow its natural course, and when it is either hampered or diverted by artificial obstacles. ...We believe in free trade because we believe in the capacity of our countrymen. That at least is why I oppose protection root and branch, veiled and unveiled, one-sided or reciprocal. I oppose it in any form

We can do a much better job free of protectionist Europeans.

In a regime of Free Trade and free economic intercourse it would be of little consequence that iron lay on one side of a political frontier, and labour, coal, and blast furnaces on the other. But as it is, men have devised ways to impoverish themselves and one another; and prefer collective animosities to individual happiness.

I'm not talking about autarky. I'm not crazy. We need an intelligent protectionism.

When America closes its doors, so does everybody else.

Protectionism is the institutionalization of economic failure.

Protectionism is a very real danger. It is understandable that in times of a severe downturn protectionist pressures mount but the lessons of history are clear. If we give in to protectionist pressures, we will only send the world into a downward spiral.

Protectionism has to be avoided. Protectionism is not only on goods but also in the area of services. Financial protectionism is also bad and should be avoided.

Evidence points out that if you raise tariffs too much it will increase smuggling.

I am utterly opposed to anything which will alter the Free Trade character of this country.

Protectionism is the fool's gold of American politics.

Demanding freedom of access to other markets isn't protectionism, it's free trade.

What protectionism teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.

While protectionism doesn’t work, pure free trade doesn’t work either.

Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all used temporarily targeted tariffs on specific industries.

Protectionism is something that will hurt everybody, but especially the United States.

China is the most protectionist country of the very large countries. They talk more about free trade than they actually practice.