James K. Glassman. “Trade Briefing Paper no. 1 The Blessings of Free Trade”. Center for Trade Policy Studies. May 1, 1998 – “What a change! The 1928 Democratic platform proposed to ‘increase the purchasing power of wages by reducing the monopolistic and extortionate tariff rates.’ Exactly. Tariffs–or even nontariff barriers–amount to a tax. They raise the price of goods for consumers. They are, of course, a discriminatory tax. They raise the price of Japanese-made Toyotas but not the price of U.S.-made Chevrolets. But, as we know, the price of Chevrolets to the consumer will rise to meet, or only slightly undercut, the price of Toyotas. Who benefits? Certainly not the consumer.”
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