The same survey I mentioned earlier, showing a deterioration in general attitudes toward trade, also indicated that 40 percent of respondents believed that trade barriers should be maintained because of the threat to U.S. jobs, up from 31 percent in 1999.13 It is worth distinguishing among several variants of the concern about trade and jobs.
The first variant holds that the rise in imports lowers employment and raises the unemployment rate by shifting jobs overseas. This claim is strongly contradicted both by theory and by experience. Make no mistake: Import competition clearly has cost some American workers their jobs and has caused them considerable hardship as a result.