Of course he did. All nations make the case for free trade after they have arrived, to pull away the ladder they used to get there. See Bad Samaritans: The Myt

Of course he did. All nations make the case for free trade after they have arrived, to pull away the ladder they used to get there. See Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and Secret History of Capitalism by Ha Joon Chang. Highly recommended read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Fr...