>What protectionism does, from a theoretical standpoint, is provide some control over the distribution of the surplass. Protectionism provides a mechanism to i

>What protectionism does, from a theoretical standpoint, is provide some control over the distribution of the surplass. Protectionism provides a mechanism to increase comparative advantage. American economists drank a little too much of their own ricardian kool aid in the 90s and early 00s when they paternalistically tutted at China for enacting protectionist policies against her own good. Now that China has stolen comparative advantage in electronics manufacturing, the CFO of Huawei is under house arrest and the tutting has all but dried up.