NPR assures listeners that we don't have to worry about the tariffs on Chinese tires starting a trade war in large part because President Obama's economic team are committed free traders. Of course this is not true, they are committed to placing non-college educated workers in direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world, but they are entirely comfortable with the professional and licensing restrictions that protect doctors and other highly educated professionals from international competition. They also have been big proponents of increasing patent and copyright protection. So, it is not accurate to describe them as free traders.
--Dean Baker