This just sounds like the usual protectionism. Despite the rhetoric about free trade, the US has historically been highly protectionist. The situation is of c

This just sounds like the usual protectionism. Despite the rhetoric about free trade, the US has historically been highly protectionist. The situation is of course going to become much more complicated, as telerobotics is going to make it possible to outsource physical labour to just about any location on earth. With enough hardware and bandwidth you can pipeline human intelligence on demand to where ever it may be required. The scope of jobs which can be outsourced will also widen considerably, as changes in technology and pressures on energy and resource scarcity increase the need to maximize efficiency. "Knowledge workers" will not be exempted from technological unemployment either, and white collar workers will be subject to the same displacement or replacement forces as blue collar workers have been over the last 30 years.