Conservative statesmen from Alexander Hamilton to Ronald Reagan sometimes supported protectionism, and at other times, they leaned toward lowering barriers. But they always understood that trade policy was merely a tool for building a strong and independent country with a prosperous middle class.

Robert Lighthizer

The latest rule is: you cannot have protectionism - otherwise you will get a world war. Other rules say you cannot have collective ideas that involve the surrender of the individual to the group - otherwise, you get totalitarianism or, even worse, religion.

Adam Curtis

Protectionism will do little to create jobs and if foreigners retaliate, we will surely lose jobs.

Alan Greenspan

Europe should stick to an open economy, to competition and we should refuse protectionism. It will not save one single job in the long run to protect non-competitive industries.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen

We have to be vigilant against protectionism and be constantly making the argument for free trade.

Andrew Scheer

I don't want to stop and build protectionism out there, but I certainly don't mind tough negotiation with our trade partners.

Asa Hutchinson

If the United States wants access to Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese markets, we must get access to theirs. U.S. protectionism is very subtle but it is very much there.

Azim Premji

Engineers in the developed world should be arguing not for protectionism but for trade agreements that seek to establish rules that result in a real rise in living standards. This will ensure that outsourcing is a positive force in the developing nation's economy and not an exploitative one.

Brian Behlendorf

Threats of trade protectionism, plus unilateral actions on the exchange-rate front, such as the heavy interventions of China, Japan, and Switzerland in the currency markets - not to mention the retaliatory tariffs recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives - endanger growth prospects and could further depress financial market confidence.

Charles Dallara

It is against this concept of the sovereign state, a state isolated by protectionism and militarism, that internationalism must now engage in decisive battle.

Christian Lous Lange

Earlier ages fortified themselves behind the sovereign state, behind protectionism and militarism.

Christian Lous Lange

If Trump wants to appeal to protectionism, the president should be protecting Americans from global warming and the accompanying extreme weather that's becoming more common.

Deb Haaland

Consider trade protectionism. It's been tried - and found wanting - since the Great Depression.

Elaine Chao

Free trade, far from protectionism, is the path that we should take to make Latin America a thriving actor in the global economy.

Enrique Pena Nieto

Nationalism makes us poor because its Siamese twin, protectionism, will destroy the internal market and disrupt international trade.

Frans Timmermans

Protectionism has never been an answer, will never be an answer. We need trade. We need trade agreements worldwide.

Frans Timmermans

We don't want protectionism at the heart of the European Union.

Guy Verhofstadt

Trade protectionism has an American lineage dating back to the Founders; that lineage is distinct from white nationalism.

Heather Mac Donald

Rich country protectionism - barriers, subsidies and support - mean that the world supply of agricultural goods is artificially increased and world prices depressed.

Hilary Benn

Germany is the biggest economy of Europe and we need Germany on board for the economic reforms of Europe, including, of course, the deepening of the internal market, resisting protectionism, and supporting further economic policy coordination.

Jose Manuel Barroso

Internal protectionism in Europe would be deadly, really a disaster for European economies.

Jose Manuel Barroso