The proponents of recent trade deals are protectionists. They just supported giving huge subsidies to the U.S. financial industry in the form of trillions of dollars of loans at below market interest rates. Of course these folks also support using trade deals to increase protection for the U.S. pharmaceutical, entertainment and software industries by increasing the strength of patent and copyright protection.
In short, these folks are not "free traders," although the adjective "free" undoubtedly helps them sell their trade agenda. It is understandable that these folks would call their deals "free trade" pacts to make them more palatable to voters, but why does an ostensibly impartial newspaper like the Wall Street Journal pick up their sales pitch?
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