Why does USA have to trade globally?

Some people on this board seem to think that American companies need to compete on the world-stage. I just have a question. Why does USA have to compete with other nations? Or to trade globally? Honest questions. Why can't US produce its own food and manufacture its own stuff? You guys have a big enough domestic market. The only thing I can sort of see that US has to trade for globally is oil. Although some say ethanol can replace the need for fossil fuels.

So...what are your thoughts? Do you think the USA has to trade globally?

 

No, it does not.
But, the costs to it of not doing so would be somewhat noticeable.

Firstly, sequesters. The government is dependent on foreign money. It goes bust the minute foreigner trade cuts it off.
Secondly, domestic economy. Many people in America make their livings from selling goods abroad, or selling foreign goods domestically.

America doesn't need it. Fatso's can all skip meals. But need and want are not the same thing.

 

Because private companies sell goods and/or services to as wide of a customer base as possible.

In other words, there are 300 million people living in the US, and 6 billion more living elsewhere. My question would be, how do I reach the 5.7 other billion potential customers?

 

So it's all about money to you.

 

Yes, and it is to you whether you care to admit it or not.

In fact, no industry can succeed without profit being it's main goal.

 

Why would someone buy US treasuries if they had no need for US dollars? Not being sarcastic. It is what it boils down to.

 

If you haven't figured that out about the US, then you have a lot to catch up on. Go back to school.

 

I never said "don't care about making money at all". I am just pointing out that money should not be the only thing being considered.

 

Maybe you personally only care about making money, that doesnt mean the rest of us are on the same level as you. Some of us care about other stuff.

 

It is in our own best interest to trade internationally. Global trade is how every first world capitalist nation achieved the level of prosperity that they are living in today. Some might believe it would be better to cut off trade with foreign nations and take a more protectionist market approach instead of a free market approach. The idea is to prevent jobs from moving over seas, but said policies come with a very high cost. In Argentina for example, people pay upwards of $2000 to $3000 for an iphone, because their government issues tougher restrictions and tariffs on goods made elsewhere. The end result is a higher cost of living overall

That's something that people need to understand about protectionist economics, it doesn't make home goods cheaper, but rather makes foreign goods more expensive. The free market approach is to our own best interest, as it reduces the cost of living for all of us

 

Nope. Money does not mean the end all, be all to me, but without understanding the history of the United States love affair with money, you cannot have an intelligent or meaningful conversation. Trust me.

 

You would need a population of more than 650 Million to manufacture and sell your own stuff, assuming an Employment-to-Population Ratio of 60%, meaning you'd need 390 Million workers.

 

As a general rule, that's why people are in business........

 

But I am talking about the USA as a country, I am not talking about a collection of American companies.

I believe that a nation should embody things that are in addition to profit.

 

this nation lives on money.

money pays for stuff.

how are we supposed to survive without money?

can Canada survive without foreign trade? nope.

 

We don't need foreign oil from anywhere other than Mexico and Canada, and even then we're net energy exporters.

We don't need foreign trade for much, but it's benefits are worth having.

 

To start with- The natural resources of the world are not distributed equally. We trade to meet material needs. We also trade for economic reasons. For example, you may be aware that there are virtually no clothing or shoe manufacturing companies in America today. Imports took that market because of price and labor costs, and now we lack the people with the skills to open such businesses- but we couldn't compete anyway. If one thinks the solution is "buy American", and it were possible- you also must accept a serious reduction in lifestyle. The cost of clothing would drastically increase. Electronics such as smart phones, computers and TV's might well triple- meaning you could afford a lot less.

Some things must be resourced internationally. Take titanium. Reserves of the ore titanium comes from world wide is about 750,000 metric tons. Only 2,000 of that is located in the USA. Most of the uranium used to build our first atomic bombs was mined in the Belgian Congo. South Africa has 70 times as much platinum as the USA. Chile has almost 2000 times as much lithium as the USA. Like it or not, it is now a global economy, with good reason. What we need to do is become better competitors in it.

 

Corporations are motivated solely by profit. They are not the government. We have a market not a command economy.

 

That's all well and good. We need people who are willing to work for a paycheck without the desire to advance past their routine work. Just don't complain that life is so unfair to "the little guy" and that other people's money needs to be given to other people on the basis of "fairness" and "kindness"

Then again, Chelsea Clinton claims (through her mother, who is nothing but truthful 24/7) to not care about money either. Probably because she's used to a life of swimming in it without having to have done anything for it.

Which one are you? I'm just curious. No wrong answer.

 

The USA is a country of free people. Meaning they do as they please within the bounds of the law.

Don't like outsourcing? Perfectly fine and your choice. Don't outsource your goods/services outside of the US.

Don't have a business of your own? Fine. Start minding your own and you'll be happy as well.

 

What does the USA as a country produce? How much profit does the USA as a country make each year?

Try zilch and nada.

As to the general question, we allow trade with other countries because we want other countries to trade with us.

Now maybe you'd like to put a giant bubble around the entire country so that no matter what happens, there is no trade outside of that bubble. What would eventually happen 50 years down the road is that we'd remove the bubble to find out that the world had gone on without us. Our technology would be inferior, our education, and our economy would all be inferior, and we'd be like one of those lost tribes living in the rain forest that hasn't yet discovered gun powder or electricity.

 

If you want chromium and a host of other elements that are all but a necessity in a 21st century economy, you have to do world trade. In fact it was the collapse of World trade under the impetus of Smoot-Hawley and a host of other anti trade tariffs not just in this country but world wide that in fact produced the Great Depression.

 

Generally I agree but with the edit - "profit being one of the main goals".

 

You make a mistake by using "we" and "our." Free trade benefits the global capitalists, the US workers not so much. Cheap i-phones are not so important to people who can't afford them.

 

If what I asked is so "dumb", you should have no problem tearing it apart. But you don't do that. Instead you just sit there and spew insults.

Although I am sure you are just going to say how it's not even "worth" your time to give a reply or some such garbage that defines all your posts.