Reply #5: You make a good point. This is why I'm not in favor of just jacking up tariffs.

[anigbrowl]

The problem is that while we now have a mixed economy consisting of natural resource use, some manufacturing, services, and IP, it's not easy for people to just move from one sector to another. If you've had a manufacturing job and lose it, you can't just shrug your shoulders and start designing the next iPod in your newly available free time. When it comes to unskilled and semi-skilled labor, there's no avoiding the fact that India and China have a strong comparative advantage, and they're not going to roll back their own economic gains of the last few decades (and nor should they - after all, people in those countries are equally entitled to pursue economic gain).