I didn't mean to imply we should "buy American."
I'm totally in favor of complete free trade. It's hard on certain groups in various countries in the short run- no question about it. If you work in an industry whose product can be made elsewhere at lower cost, you're going to suffer with free trade. Everybody else in the country who uses that product, however, is better off, because they can buy whatever you made for less, and will have disposable money left over for things they wouldn't have been able to afford if they had to pay the old, higher price for your product.
There's always a WHOLE lot more of the everybody else than there is of you, so the net impact on the national well-being is greatly positive.
Free trade, without the slightest doubt, produces a higher standard of living for almost everybody, in all countries involved, almost immediately. In the longer term, the displaced people will find new skills and employment and so virtually everybody will be better off.
So, I'm all for free trade, which is the complete opposite of "Buy American."
I just want to put a knee in the French crotch in the short term.
Wine, cheese, designer bottled water and such are pretty easy targets and, I believe, fairly significant quantities in their exports to the US.
You could add the Germans' and Belgians' crotches- wouldn't hurt my feelings.