My morning snack, courtesy of international trade...

Here's a snapshot of my morning snack (too many of each actually):



The almond was grown right here in California, the cashew was grown in India. Thus, international trade made my morning a bit more interesting and certainly --- in that I love cashews --- more satisfying.

Here would've been my morning snack without trade:



Ah, you say, that's nuts! We could create jobs and produce cashews right here in the U.S.A.! Well, cashews survive only in tropical environments. I honestly don't know that it can't be done here, but I do know that it isn't, and for good reason: it simply doesn't pencil. But almonds do, big time! 

So, rather than going to great lengths and allocating valuable resources to the growing of things that our climate doesn't readily accommodate, our farmers grow what they grow best --- and take full advantage of the world's appetite for almonds. And, in the process, provide me with delicious, and deliciously affordable, cashews.  In a sense, our California almond farmers grow cashews in India. Or, we can say, they inspire cashew growing in India. I.e., Indians produce cashews because they love almonds, and we do almonds way better than them. And they know we love cashews, and they do cashews way better than us. 

Folks, free trade ---  two sides to a transaction agreeing to terms --- is always a win/win. There's never a "beating"...