Quite recent and glaring counterexample - where Greece was pretty much crushed economically by Germany ("open" trade coupled with fixed exchange rates meant eno

Quite recent and glaring counterexample - where Greece was pretty much crushed economically by Germany ("open" trade coupled with fixed exchange rates meant enormous trade deficit) While obviously in most cases less barriers to trade means growth for everybody, there are cases where completely opening to trade is bad - it might mean total dependence on foreign products - simply thanks to economies of scale and entrenchment. For example in Poland homegrown producents of buses/trams/trains were finally given precedence and within few years they managed to produce cheaper (massively so) and just as good if not better products, jobs and know-how that will last and be a boon as opposed to being hooked on foreign maintenance contracts. So right now we are all for free trade, since those products are actually massively competitive :3