John McCain has been going around declaring himself to be a free trader. ("There's no greater free trader in the Senate than I am," he says). But Greg Mankiw, in the context of raising some election issues that are important to economists, brings up the uncomfortable issue of anti-dumping laws:
Economists are nearly unanimous in their support of an unfettered system of world trade. Here, Senator Obama lags behind Senator McCain. Senator Obama’s bad-mouthing of Nafta and his opposition to free-trade pacts with Colombia and South Korea make most economists cringe.
Many economists would go even further than Senator McCain has suggested by, for example, repealing antidumping laws. The ostensible purpose of these laws is to prevent foreign companies from selling in the United States at prices below fair value, but the law’s notion of “fair” rarely makes sense. In practice, these laws are little more than an excuse for special interests to shield themselves from competition. (emphasis added)
Not that it's likely to happen, but it would be interesting to see Senator McCain's response to this. He says he is a free trader, but how far is he willing to go with that? My guess is that he would respond with the usual "free and fair trade" qualification, but I suppose you never know.
