Milton Friedman Quotes

We have to resist, protectionism, other kinds of barriers to market access and to trade.

Let me say at the outset that I do not reflexively oppose international trade.

The establishment of free trade agreements can be a critical and progressive step towards greater economic integration, and continues to become more valuable in an increasingly global world.

These agreements should be free trade. They aren’t free trade.

You cannot close down free trade. What you've got to do is open up markets.

There are legitimate concerns and anxieties that the forces of globalisation are leaving too many people behind - and we have to take those concerns seriously and address them. But the answer isn't to turn inward and embrace protectionism. We can't just walk away from trade.

NAFTA and GATT have about as much to do with free trade as the Patriot Act has to do with liberty.

Governments agree to accept the rulings of the World Trade Organization because, on balance, they benefit from a rules-based international trading order, even in a particular ruling impinges on their right to protect national industries.

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

It's not just free trade verses protectionism any longer, you've got the concepts of managed trade and reciprocity, and environmental issues.

We have quit discussing the tariff, and have turned our attention to getting trade wherever it can be found.

I know something about trade agreements. I was proud to help President Clinton pass the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and create what is still the world's largest free-trade area, linking 426 million people and more than $12 trillion of goods and services.

I am not anti-trade. I am pro-trade. But I am pro-sensible trade.

The idea that you could send agricultural products to Tokyo and Osaka and not pay tariffs, and you would have to pay tariffs sending them to Manchester, is quite hard to fathom in the modern world.

Protectionism has never been an answer, will never be an answer. We need trade. We need trade agreements worldwide.

Free-trade enthusiasts fret that regional trade arrangements divert more trade than they create.

A country the size of Brazil can't be held back by Mercosur to do trade with the rest of the world.

Free trade agreements are never for one sector alone.

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

You don't need a treaty to have free trade.

I have never worshipped at the altar of free trade, but I've always been an advocate of free trade.

The regime of globalization promotes an unfettered marketplace as the dynamic instrument organizing international relations.

We were talking about really getting Europe on its feet. It was our hope that there would be a breakdown of trade barriers in Europe first, and then eventually a breakdown internationally, which would help increase trade with Europe.

Trade liberalization can be contagious, and the opening of markets regionally can spark progress multilaterally as well.

If we want more trade in the world, we should establish bilateral trade agreements with other democratic countries. That way we can control the decision-making process. The major economic countries of the world will enter into those agreements.