You say...

"There really is a benefit of importing goods from other countries"...

That is how NAFTA was sold to US...

The question is "benefit" to whom!?...

For example, it certainly did not benefit 55 year old JOHN, who worked in a senior position at local offices of a National Bank, had 3 kids in high school, who moved his family 2 blocks down from us, got a big mortgage and thought everthing was great. Until his bank had to write off 19 billion loss in the Mortgage fiasco, terminated his position, sold his mortgage to Chinese who raised his monthly payments promptly...

Left without a job and big expenses he defaulted on his loans, and took the family back to Michigan to live on the family farm, with 2 of his older boys joining up with the military and getting shipped to IRAQ...

In theory what you say sounds great. But the execution of said theory has left US with a big economic mess...

Look around you! How many JOHNS you know whose life got shattered by becomning victims to a gerrymandered economic system that is aimed at maximising corporate profits with no regard of what happens to the rest of us. When some coporations files for bankruptcy, they get to reorganize and start all over. But, poor JOHNS can't do that because they are driven out of the market because their FICA scores are lowered to where they can get no credit...

OK...That is enough...Lol...Lol...

Gil...