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The True Cost of Free Trade: How America Funded Its Own Decline

For decades, Americans were promised that free trade would usher in prosperity, lower prices, and greater opportunity. We were told that the removal of barriers and the opening of markets would allow U.S. ingenuity to shine, that American workers would lead the global economy, and that adversaries like China and Russia would be tamed through economic integration.

That promise was a lie.

What followed was the systematic hollowing out of America’s industrial base, the destruction of working-class communities, and the empowerment of hostile nations. The seeds of this betrayal were sown in the 1990s, during the presidency of Bill Clinton, when two critical decisions changed the course of American history: the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to China, paving the way for its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The costs of those choices are not just measured in lost jobs, shuttered factories, and broken towns—but in the rise of China as America’s chief adversary and Russia as its partner in defiance.

This is the bill America is still paying.

The Clinton Era and the Globalist Dream

NAFTA: A Betrayal of the Heartland

In 1994, President Clinton signed NAFTA, a trade deal between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It was hailed by elites as a visionary step toward a new global economy. Clinton himself called it a "defining moment" for America’s future. But while multinational corporations celebrated, American workers paid the price.

NAFTA allowed companies to move manufacturing south of the border, where labor was cheap and environmental rules were lax. American auto plants, textile mills, and electronics factories closed. Small towns across the Midwest and South—once bustling with steady jobs—turned into hollow shells of what they once were.

Estimates suggest the U.S. lost over 850,000 jobs directly due to NAFTA, with millions more indirectly affected. But the damage wasn’t just economic—it was social. Families broke apart. Communities that had been stable for generations sank into poverty and despair.

China’s Entry into the Global Market

If NAFTA was a blow, the decision to welcome China into the WTO in 2001 was the knockout punch. Bill Clinton, supported by a bipartisan coalition of globalists, argued that free trade with China would democratize its society, modernize its economy, and integrate it peacefully into the global order.

Instead, it supercharged China’s rise.

By granting Beijing permanent trade relations, the U.S. handed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to the world’s largest consumer market. American companies rushed to relocate factories to China, drawn by slave-level wages and little to no environmental restrictions. From 2001 to 2018, the U.S. lost over 3.7 million jobs due to trade with China.

China, meanwhile, used this windfall to fund its military buildup, expand its global influence, and dominate critical industries like steel, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. Far from liberalizing, China became more authoritarian, weaponizing the very wealth America gave it.

The Toll on America

The Death of Manufacturing

Since 2000, the U.S. has lost more than 70,000 factories. Cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh—once symbols of American industrial might—were gutted. The middle class, once anchored by manufacturing jobs with good pay and benefits, eroded.

Working Americans were told to “adapt” by shifting to service jobs. But no number of fast-food positions or retail gigs could replace the stability and dignity of a manufacturing career. Wages stagnated, benefits shrank, and an epidemic of despair set in.

The Human Cost

The economic devastation wasn’t confined to dollars and cents. Communities torn apart by job loss saw spikes in drug addiction, suicide, and crime. Families that had lived for generations in the same towns were forced to scatter. The opioid crisis—a plague that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives—was fueled in part by this collapse of purpose and opportunity.

Globalist policies didn’t just break factories—they broke people.

The Strategic Cost

Perhaps the greatest price has been strategic. By handing over production to China, the U.S. became dependent on its chief adversary for critical goods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans learned the hard way that everything from medical masks to antibiotics was made in China.

This dependency isn’t just dangerous—it’s suicidal. No nation can claim to be secure when its survival depends on the goodwill of its enemies.

The Rise of a Dangerous Alliance

China: The Engine of Authoritarian Power

Today, China is the world’s second-largest economy and the U.S.’s most formidable rival. It controls the supply chains for electronics, pharmaceuticals, and rare earth minerals. It boasts the world’s largest navy, a rapidly modernizing military, and a surveillance state that crushes dissent at home and exports repression abroad.

None of this would have been possible without decades of American money flowing into Beijing’s coffers. Every cheap product bought at a U.S. store was another brick in the foundation of China’s power.

Russia: The Strategic Partner

While Russia lacks China’s industrial might, it plays a critical role as Beijing’s partner in a new anti-American axis. Russia provides energy resources, military cooperation, and political cover. Together, China and Russia are working to dismantle American influence, weaken NATO, and build a world order hostile to freedom.

This partnership is not about economics alone—it is about power. By feeding China’s rise through trade, America has indirectly strengthened Russia’s hand as well.

Every Penny Spent with the Devil

Americans need to wake up to a simple truth: Every dollar we spend on cheap imports is a dollar invested in our enemies.

The globalist fantasy that trade would bring peace has been shattered. Instead, trade has funded the very nations plotting America’s downfall.

• Buy a Chinese-made phone? You fund surveillance technology used to oppress people in Hong Kong and Tibet.

• Buy Russian oil or gas? You fund Putin’s war machine in Ukraine.

• Buy cheap foreign steel? You weaken America’s ability to defend itself.

There is no safety or security in enriching those who want to see America fail.

The Path Forward

It’s not too late to correct course, but it will take courage and sacrifice. America must embrace economic nationalism and rebuild its strength at home. That means:

1. Rebuilding Manufacturing – Provide incentives for companies to produce in America, not China.

2. Strategic Tariffs – Protect industries vital to national security with selective tariffs.

3. Energy Independence – Stop relying on Russia and OPEC. Expand domestic oil, gas, and nuclear power.

4. Decoupling from China – Phase out dependency on Chinese supply chains for critical goods.

5. Investing in American Workers – Strengthen vocational training, apprenticeships, and trade schools.

6. Strong Alliances with True Partners – Build economic partnerships with nations that share America’s values, not those seeking to destroy us.

Conclusion: Reclaiming America’s Destiny

Bill Clinton’s trade deals marked a turning point in American history. They handed away our economic sovereignty, empowered our adversaries, and hollowed out the very foundation of our strength. For too long, our leaders chose short-term profits over long-term security, globalist fantasies over American reality.

Now we face the consequences: a rising China, a resurgent Russia, and an America struggling to regain its footing. But it is not too late. By rejecting failed free trade orthodoxy and embracing policies that put America first, we can rebuild our strength, restore our independence, and secure a future where our children inherit not dependence, but freedom.

The choice is clear: Stop feeding the devil, or watch him devour us.

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