All Commerce, No Minister

Do we need free international trade or do we need a minister for foreign trade?

That is the real question.

For as long as we have this minister we will never experience the freeing up of our borders to all that the world has to offer us.

The purpose of life is consumption – and the purpose of foreign trade is importation.

Not exports – which only pay for the imports, which are those things we value more, because we cannot produce them ourselves.

The Honourable East India Company sent out gold in its tall ships to import nutmeg and pepper.

There are lots of fat profits to be made by importing.

This minister is blocking everything.

And he claims he is doing this for the poor! I quote from the news report:

“Nath said India will not compromise on the issue of subsidies in agriculture. He said that at present third world countries from Africa and Asia are facing food crisis because of the subsidies given by US and European Union countries to farmers. He argued that because of the agricultural subsidies, the food prices remained very low. This made agriculture in Africa non-viable, forcing the farmers not to till land. But this left the entire world dependent on developed countries for the food supply. “


Actually, if subsidized food is allowed in duty free, the poor will get cheap food, paid for by US and EU taxpayers.

We can then close all the ration shops down and save the Indian taxpayer from funding the Public Distribution System.

Win-Win.

Free trade across all our vast borders is in the interest of all Indians – except those who fund this minister’s politics.

Read my old article advocating unilateral free trade here.