Title: The Importance of Imports in Texas - D Magazine
Headings: The Importance of Imports in Texas
Business
The Importance of Imports in Texas
The top exporting state, Texas, also buys a lot from other countries. And that’s a good thing.
Top Five Texas Imports
Second to California
Muddled Mindset

Content: We’ve been told time and again that what Americans buy from other countries amounts to a drain on our economy, taking sales from U.S. firms and costing U.S. workers their jobs. We’d be better off—so the America-First protectionist logic goes—if we slapped high tariffs on imports, bought domestically made products, and saved the jobs of our fellow Americans. Consumers, of course, end up footing the bill through higher prices and reduced spending. Our public discourse on trade often comes down to this: Exporting’s good. Importing’s bad. What folly! The protectionist stance on trade is completely and tragically backward. Exports aren’t the gain from trade; they’re the cost.