There has been a lot of discussion on Ricochet of late regarding free markets and free trade. I think the core problem is the naivete on the right (whether conservatives or libertarians) regarding the prerequisites for such unfettered economic associations. I was reminded of this while reading the PJ Media article below:

Georgia Factory Used Forced Labor of Trafficked Chinese Migrants

Per the more strident interpretations of free markets and trade, if we just allow the unrestricted flow of products, services and people, then the "invisible hand" of the market will unerringly lead to beneficent outcomes. This has not worked out as planned. What we have gotten instead is the immiserization of the American people while empowering oppressive slave nations like Communist China, as well as harboring slavery within the U.S. itself.

What defenders of free markets have forgotten is that any free market system requires, as an absolute, a precondition of free citizens with rights and the rule of law. Without this minimal foundation, any such free market quickly and irrevocably collapses into slavery and cronyism.

This is why I come out in favor not only of Trump's immigration enforcement domestically but also his jaundiced eye and tariffs directed at international players. A truly free trade policy can only be, and I see zero exceptions, conducted among free citizens where all parties enjoy some semblance of human rights and the rule of law. This makes trade with other Western, or Westernized, countries less problematic, but free trade with a nation like China is simply not a possibility.

This does not mean that you cannot have any trade at all with a country like China or other nations with similarly illiberal governments. It simply means that such trade must be heavily regulated, and the behavior of their business and political entities should be watched like a hawk. Such nations cannot be granted unfettered access to our economy or financial and educational institutions. What we have seen by granting this is subversion: currency manipulation, stealing IP, supporting and supplying the drug trade, Confucius Institutes on college campuses, etc. Like the Aesop fable of the Scorpion and the Frog, they cannot help themselves, for it is in their nature to harm us and to undermine our freedoms and laws.

Trade requires regulation to protect free people from the above despotic "nature". You can have free trade with free countries, but not with slave states.