U.S. protectionist trade policies are more responsible for the world's increasingly negative view of America, more so than even the war in Iraq, a well-known British consultant to business and government said Wednesday.
Protectionist sentiment in the U.S. is running high, but such policies don't work in today's global economy, where major competition is now coming from such low-wage countries as China and India, Sir Digby Jones told members of the British American Business Council at the Duquesne Club, Downtown.
"Iraq is important, and it's certainly made headlines, but I truly believe that the real enduring damage ... is the business damage," said Jones, former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, known as the UK's "Voice of Business."
"America is much more loved when you reach out, but you are not doing it," he said.
The U.S. is probably more protectionist than ever, Jones said, but he believes such things as subsidies to help its own businesses and tariffs and duties to restrict the flow of imports here will cause more harm than good in the long-term.
Policies that restrict competition hold back growth in countries that are potentially lucrative markets for U.S. companies who develop "value-added" products, he said.
"You are the people who can make a difference in people's lives with the creation of wealth, the improvement of our society and the improvement of people's ability to explore opportunity," he said. "No other nation can do that but you."
However, he also acknowledged the difficulty that political officials face in adapting free trade policies when their constituents work in industries that lose some business to lower-cost foreign competition.
"The real frustration is that if you accept competition in your country, you would win," he said.
