Alexander Hamilton, the first US treasury secretary, argued that allowing lower-cost imports would impede the development of domestic “infant” industry, which needed time to scale up enough to reduce costs to a competitive level. In recent decades, the anti-trade argument has focused largely on “unfair” competition and economic dislocation.
当然，贸易也有潜在的弊端。美国第一任财政部长亚历山大·汉密尔顿认为，允许成本更低的进口品涌入会阻碍国内“婴儿”产业的发展，后者需要时间扩大规模从而将成本削减至有竞争力的水平。在近几十年中，反贸易观点基本集中在“不公平”竞争和经济错置上。