Lots of other things to consider beyond the folksy idea of worker productivity (which I would argue doesn't scale uniformly across job type). If we include the

Lots of other things to consider beyond the folksy idea of worker productivity (which I would argue doesn't scale uniformly across job type). If we include the full cost of labor in that $20, then it is cheaper in locations unhindered by, say, insurance requirements. That is a very big difference between US and 3rd world (China, for example) labor markets. Insurance is just one issue. Requirements for safe working conditions are another. There are factories in China where dioxin levels are several orders of magnitude above US EPA limits. I've only been near them and I sometimes wonder how much my cancer likelihood has increased. At no point have I made a moral argument. I don't care about that argument. What I'm amused by is how the free trade argument can be morphed into a social justice claim for foreign economies... What would Adam Smith think of that?