free trade millions of tons of goods in

motion across the planet it brings

prosperity or so we're told

protectionism and isolationism are evils

from the past or they were until Donald

Trump called for duties on steel imports

to the US Europe and China threatened

reprisals are we on the brink of a

full-scale trade war first I'm signing

an executive order to ensure that we

fully collect all duties imposed foreign

importers that cheap cheers how are we

being deceived when it comes to global

trade and what role do we ourselves play

in that deception lord sub-commission

Germany can't expect the rest of the

world to buy its goods while remaining

reluctant to buy goods from abroad

the arguments made for and against free

trade are full of contradictions Germans

are proud of the countries ranked at the

top of the list of exporting nations

seemingly unaware that free trade

destroys livelihoods at home and abroad

David and Goliath situation the choice

that in this case it's really a twist

because

bogi I think the polls show who are the

real winners and is free trade really as

free as it sounds
[Music]

the port of Hamburg from here German

products are shipped to countries all

over the world in return around nine

million containers arrive here every

year most of them from China the city in

northern Germany is a gateway to Europe

for goods from Asia and when they enter

the EU many products are subject to

import duties cars from Asia and the US

are taxed at 10% clothing at 12%

smartphones are taxed at all customs

duties are complex there are thousands

of different types of terrorists in

countless variations agents Gabi Anson

and Ava Hoffmann from the ports central

customs office chick imports every day

it's their job to ensure that goods are

declared properly there are a vast

number of loopholes

yes it says it's a microfiber coat for a

pet

that's right made of knitted polyester

exactly from the size I'd say it's

supposed to be for a dog made in China

and they're different sizes this one's

apparently for a medium-sized dog do the

dog coats have leather parts as well in

that case they'd be charged at a lower

rate 100% polyester so at the moment

that means that 12% import tax if these

were saddles that would only be 2.7%

they have no idea what's behind that

difference it's a decision taken at the

EU level all they do is check the

contents of containers I've been working

here for a long time and working here

you feel like Germany isn't the world's

top exporter but that most of the stuff

is coming from China the Chinese make

pretty much everything

the question is do import tariffs bring

benefits outside of government coffers

I guess they protect a country's

domestic economy is that true

what role does protecting domestic

industries play in an era of global free

trade we've come to the town of Huber

cowson in the German state of tearing in

home to volcán Renner's company Morita

and Centurion the former top cyclocross

cyclist was the man who brought mountain

biking to Germany in a big way today

he's a successful entrepreneur

[Music]

the company offers a range of models and

business is booming so where do the

bikes come from this bike it's made in

Germany no it's not made in Germany but

it's a German brand yeah it's a German

brand so where does the frame come from

Tom like so many things the frame comes

from China it's painted and assembled in

Taiwan

Quality Control all happens here of

cobalt and here complete control yet a

bike designed in Germany assembled in

Taiwan from components manufactured in

China made in this way a bike like this

pays a 15 percent import duty when it

arrives in the EU but if it was shipped

directly to Germany from a factory in

China the importer would have to pay

almost 50% in punitive tariffs why

because a Chinese company can make bikes

much more cheaply than a German firm

ever could twenty years growth

become the world's largest bicycle

manufacturing leading enterprises in

this promotional video Chinese bicycle

manufacturer of foucha dirt flames it

has the largest bike Factory in the

world first-class production technology

and more than 100 robots welding machine

companies like these are subsidized by

the Chinese government but that's just

one reason Chinese products are so cheap

there's also scale creating miracles

with a production capacity of a hundred

million bicycles a year China could

quickly swamp the world with its

products companies like full gung

Renner's would go under so he sees the

import tariffs as protecting Europe's

bicycle manufacturing industry

protect Johnny smooth sometimes you have

to have protectionism it's unavoidable

the point is that in business you need a

fair playing field you can see it in

other areas too where government

subsidies keep other manufacturers from

competing because the market is

distorted so it's about jobs in Europe

sure it's about jobs and fairness the

import duty ensures that Chinese bikes

are more expensive when purchased in

Europe punitive tariffs a form of pure

protectionism but there are ways around

them for instance having the bike frames

that are produced in China finished in

Taiwan then punitive tariffs don't apply

the final assembly of bicycles made with

Chinese frames then takes place in

Europe it's an industry that provides

100,000 jobs on the continent

[Music]

Raynor is glad that protectionist

tariffs keep Chinese competitors out of

Europe's markets but the international

trade in bicycles is a hotly fought

segment and the companies trying to grab

a slice of the pie will go to great

lengths to do so not long after the EU

implemented punitive tariffs on bikes

from China they began to arrive from

Cambodia Malaysia Indonesia and other

places when it grew clear that the bikes

were actually being made by Chinese

firms punitive tariffs against those

countries were put in place then Tunisia

began exporting them and was soon slept

with tariffs today components for the

bikes are still mostly made in China but

the frames are finished elsewhere like

Taiwan because that's where the rules

say value was added the bikes are then

no longer subject to punitive tariffs

when they're imported into the EU

[Music]

so what happens when the market for

bicycles isn't protected by high import

duties in the US city of Philadelphia

bike store owner Brian Catholic used to

sell exclusively American brands that

had been produced domestically

but that changed a few years ago there

are still American brand names but the

bikes all originate in the same place

mainshine and doesn't matter which the

manufacturer is whether it's Trek

whether it's Cannondale whether it's

specialized all their bikes at some

price point or at some level are made

are made in China without protectionist

policies like those in Europe he says

Chinese bikes have flooded the market in

the US and that has in turn destroyed a

lot of jobs in the country especially in

his home state of Pennsylvania where the

bike manufacturing industry once

flourished

[Music]

the store owner says it's not a good

feeling to promote the sellout of the

domestic sector by selling cheap imports

but what choice does he have

keeps my family fed you know I own two

different bicycle shops to be able to

offer that offer my consumer a bike for

under $400 that has gears to be able to

offer a bike for under $300 that's like

a single speed ride around the city it's

nice to be able to do that

president Trump has threatened many

sectors with punitive tariffs but not

the bike industry in general Catholic is

critical of protectionist measures but

he would have made an exception for

bicycles it depends on what perspective

you're looking from you know people who

have lost their jobs because it's been

farmed out to China or Taiwan they'll

probably have a very different view than

somebody who's never been affected by

that but isn't free trade supposed to

bring more prosperity for everyone

American woes in many areas of trade

can't just be traced back to China but

also to Germany says professor herebut

dieter he teaches his university

students in free duce - that being an

export giant also has a dark side German

products sell well internationally not

just because they're high quality but

also because wages in the country have

only climbed moderately in recent years

while the Euro has remained relatively

weak

Trump is angry about the trade imbalance

and dieter says he has a point

deutsche uber sure surpluses in Germany

means deficits in other countries

Germany expects the rest of the world to

go into debt with Germany but also likes

to criticize the rest of the world for

being too deeply in debt it wants to

have its cake and eat it in these two

some Germany really does profit

immensely from global trade in 2017 it

exported goods worth over 1.2 trillion

euros like China that makes the EU a big

net exporter Germany has a whopping 250

billion euros trade surplus the US has a

deficit of around 500 billion with many

more goods and services flowing in than

flowing out ongoing debt has long-term

consequences for America

[Music]

one country's loss is another's gain we

head next form of area on the rivers

Iowa here manfred schmidt works for

Schaeffler a company making products

that are often exported to the US he

earns a good salary and can afford to

buy the things he wants that includes

many products made available by free

global trade

just like most households all over the

world

the Schmitz home is full of things made

in other countries is anything here in

their living room actually made in

Germany

mainly very little if we got rid of

everything that wasn't made in Germany

there'd be nothing left in Malaya with

one exception the antique sewing machine

proudly on display

what about clothing we take a look in

the family closet

[Music]

they made in Turkey made in Bangladesh

designed in Germany made in China even

[Music]

their pantry is full of food from all

over the world

the Schmidt's have had personal

experience with how quickly you can lose

in the free trade game manfred schmidt

nearly lost his job when Schaeffler

wanted to move his plant to a cheaper

location abroad the employees fight to

keep the plant drew national attention

Schmidt and his colleagues came to an

agreement with the company it worked for

a while for ten years we put in five

unpaid hours a week and then they came

overnight and said we're closing the

plant that was a shock for all of us who

worked there because we were all

thinking we do five hours a week for

free so that's a pretty sum the company

is getting for nothing the shadow side

of globalization Manfred Schmidt was

lucky he was able to stay with the

company but he had to move to another

plant everything's all sweetness and

light now and they act like we're the

winners because we make good money in

the industry but that's down to

relocations and plant closures we were

lucky to get positions enshrined for but

in another company they might just let

everyone go and those people will be the

loser schemer villian

manufacturers usually go where it's

cheapest we take a look at the Schmidt

family bicycles the brands are all

German but we know where they were all

made at least the frames

cheap production in China that cost

hundreds of thousands of jobs especially

in the u.s. back to Philadelphia the

city is a dynamic growing urban center

but in the surrounding region the

factories and jobs have disappeared like

in many parts of the US

Sarah Parker and her neighbor Susan

Schweickart don't count themselves as

losers in the globalization era and they

don't like Donald Trump but they're on a

mission by American Sarah has a popular

website and by American is its clarion

call in her USA love list

she gives thousands of fans advice on

how to replace products made in other

parts of the world she says it's about

their jobs you wouldn't believe how

often American flags are not even made

in the United States this is mainly

United States is it yeah oh yeah oh good

I like it when they when they put the

label Indian states on the front because

people really do care about that this

was made in a small town somewhere I'm

sure I don't know where but by looking

for them made in USA label I'm

supporting that small town and the

people who made it Parker says she

herself experienced how jobs moved south

of the border to Mexico and depopulated

whole areas as the factories died she

decided to do something about it

my first job after college was selling

Chevrolet I went back a few years ago

and that dealership just closed weeds

growing completely abandoned it's sad to

see and the pride that people have when

they build something and then are able

to purchase it I think that we've lost

that

it's often hard to determine the origin

of global products that's the new norm

the two Americans say that should bother

us more you know they don't have to tell

you where things are made I think it's

only food things and cars so we're

actually lucky they give us as much

information as they do

Parker admits that she made an exception

when she bought a Volvo the Swedish car

maker now belongs to a Chinese

multinational in her household she says

she's trying to buy only american-made

products with at times limited success

so there's some things that I'm not sure

but I know the KitchenAid is assembled

in Ohio I think I read that the bowl is

made in Korea I know that is not you

cannot buy an american-made toasters her

initiative sounds like it has a

nationalist agenda Parker says it all

boils down to a matter of choice I think

it's only nationalistic if you are

saying we're only going to buy

american-made products we make a lot of

choices as consumers we choose things

because they have recycled content in

them or we choose things because they

reflect a particular lifestyle that we

want choosing something that's made

either in your own community or your own

country is just another consumer choice

I'm glad that we have those choices

which is why for me at least it's not a

nationalistic effort so what would

happen if we all followed her advice and

tried to buy only products made

domestically

if borders closed and protectionism

reigned

it's happened before at the beginning of

the 20th century world trade and

globalization really took off but it

soon hit major speed bumps the u.s. slid

into the Great Depression Germany faced

a huge economic crisis of its own and

protectionism suddenly reared its head

voices calling for isolationist policies

grew loud during the 1930s the US began

to adopt an increasingly aggressive

protectionist stance raising tariffs

drastically to protect American

industries and jobs Germany also put up

barriers to international trade the

mixture of protectionism and nationalism

ended in the horrors of the Second World

War

[Music]

your hardness mid there were disastrous

developments in world trade in terms of

volume it fell by two-thirds within four

years by today's standards that's

unimaginable if we saw a five percent

fall in trade people would call it a

major crisis back then it fell

drastically and dramatically and that

development can be traced back to

protectionist policies put in place by

the United States of America defining

from start for American solutions to

prevent other major conflicts the body

that would eventually become the World

Trade Organization was set up

headquartered in Geneva its fundamental

principle that free trade brings

prosperity for all has never really been

accepted on the contrary the WTO has

come under heavy fire in recent years

and the u.s. led by Donald Trump largely

ignores it

[Music]

is protectionism set to send the world

into a new economic and political

tailspin or our dire predictions just

half the story in the town of Malacca in

the German state of Baden württemberg

the Styla group makes tiles business is

brisk the construction industry is

healthy but the business is facing stiff

competition from China

tiles from there are unbeatably cheap so

the EU has put punitive tariffs in place

tiles imported from China now have an

import duty of 26.3% protecting jobs

here from Asian competitors if they

didn't exist says Wilson baths and

kitchens in Germany would soon all be

tiled with Chinese products I think it's

justified in the current climate because

the competitive situation is unbalanced

we know that Chinese manufacturers are

selling their over capacities

internationally at very very low prices

and that puts us in a situation where we

can no longer be competitive we can't

keep our people we have to play by those

rules

[Applause]

punitive tariffs on tiles is also a

protectionist measure but it keeps

people in jobs in Germany and helps push

for better production and environmental

standards

[Applause]

we're pretty and we produce here in

Germany we're expected to comply with

laws that are relevant in Germany and we

do so we exercise control over things

like environmental aspects of course we

don't have that for products coming from

abroad then there's the issue of weight

versus value because it really makes

sense to transport these products over

such long distances without punitive

tariffs European tile makers wouldn't

hold out long under the pressure exerted

by their Chinese counterparts if the EU

hadn't instituted protectionist measures

the industry would soon disappear and

not just the tile industry in all the

block has put punitive tariffs in place

for fifty three types of imports from

China among them steel porcelain and

even ironing boards the anti-dumping

measures have been accepted by the WTO

protectionism is alive well and

apparently protecting jobs but although

the EU has taken measures to protect its

businesses it frowns on other countries

trying to do the same Cameroon

mommm Bali is on her way to her

plantation the path takes her through

the jungle she's the head of a village

cooperative located in the rainforests

north of yonder the walk takes about an

hour in each direction there's no street

the cooperative members harvested over

two tons of onions here last year and

sold the crop at a market in the distant

capital the proceeds fed the entire

village we use onions as a remedy for

example when you have digestive

complaints we use it as an antiseptic

and we make our sauces with onions

Cameroonians wouldn't know what to do

without onions now the women from the

village are planting cassava instead not

because they want to but because it no

longer makes sense to plant onions

onions imported from Europe have

destroyed the market to protect farmers

like these Cameroon would have to raise

import duties even more but it can't

because a new free trade agreement with

the EU called EPA prohibits that onion

fields stretched from here down to the

river and over there but then we stop

being able to sell all of them because

of the huge number of imports that's why

we had to stop growing them onions are a

staple here the African country consumes

hundreds of thousands of tons a year

until now they were all grown

domestically just as they do everyday

the women in the co-operative prepare

dinner for now they still have their own

onions produce that not only feeds them

and their families but also helps them

survive

[Music]
50 kilometers south at a market in

yaoundé is growing harder and harder to

find

onions grown domestically every morning

trucks arrive here filled with onions

most of them have been imported from

Holland they're the ones packaged in red

Nets my man Bali has dressed up for the

trip to Yan day to talk about the onion

issue she's meeting up with Yvonne

Hawking who heads up an office that

examines the effect free trade is having

on everyday consumers here

the two discovered that Dutch onions

cost around 1/3 less than homegrown

varieties but how can that be when

there's already a 30% punitive import

tariff on the vegetable and as though

the cheap onions weren't bad enough for

the farmers other agricultural products

like garlic from China are also flooding

markets in the fruitful country and

build our economies before thinking of

opening our markets to the world

European overproduction is undercutting

Africa's agriculture sector my man

ballet doesn't know what to do next what

happened with onions could happen just

as easily with other farm products and

the new free trade agreements with the

EU don't allow Cameroon to raise

punitive tariffs any further to protect

the industry time to understand that

they should leave African countries to

build your own markets just as the EU

took time to build its own markets it's

time to let us build our markets and

then we can see partnership agreements

with the EU

in other words Europeans are denying

Africans what they need most the right

to institute measures to protect their

still vulnerable agriculture sector all

industrialized countries including

Germany we're only able to grow into

economic heavyweights because they

initially threw up big barriers to

foreign competition but that fact is

conveniently forgotten nowadays without

protectionism in other words Germany

never would have turned into the

industrial powerhouse it later became

back in the 19th century the iron

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck closed

borders to keep out imports of wood and

grain from Russia and Britain also

protected itself by coming up with the

made in Germany label at the time it was

meant to identify cheap mass-produced

knives only later did the description

grow to have positive connotations

Linda pleading in dumb countries preach

free-trade principles when they

themselves are especially competitive

and they preach it for the sector's

where there is specially competitive but

in areas where they're less competitive

they allow protectionism like in

agriculture in Europe for example in

Switzerland

we've come to the canton of Sankt Gallen

not long ago the swiss decided in a

referendum to support more food security

and quality in their country

and this is one of the people behind the

movement the president of the Swiss

Farmers Union Marcus Ritter

he owns a typical family farm in the

area and he firmly believes that

unlimited free trade can be a dangerous

thing

bang-bang-bang huh bring the handle if

all trade were free if every border was

open then for economic reasons food

production here in Switzerland would

make no sense at all it would have to be

relocated to places where production is

cheapest some where labor costs next to

nothing but then it wouldn't be here in

Switzerland Swiss pay rates are on

average 50% higher than even in wealthy

neighbor Germany richer could never

produce food here in Switzerland as

cheaply as he could anywhere else in

Europe but it's about more than price

it's also about having a domestic

industry and saving jobs that's why the

country has imposed import duties on a

range of products the amount of those

duties makes a big difference here in

whether a business can today be run

profitably where the duties are very low

as is the case with milk for example it

makes things very tough where they're

higher as they are with things like

fruit and vege in those markets they

work very well

[Music]

here's how the Swiss do it strawberries

are a good example most of the year

they're charged three Swiss francs of

import duty per 100 kilograms but during

the harvest season in Switzerland that

climbs to five hundred and ten francs

which basically amounts to a ban on

strawberry imports with onions importers

usually pay just under three francs per

hundred kilos but while Swiss onions are

being harvested

it's 126 francs with veal importers pay

109 francs in duties within a fixed

limit if you want to import more though

you'll have to dig deep

2,900 francs on duties for just 100

kilograms of meat so what about bicycles

no matter where they're from they cost

just 12 francs apiece in tariffs the

farmers union president likes the

flexible import duty system it keeps

chief competitors out of the market when

it counts most

the Swiss farmers say it's not just

about protecting their livelihoods they

insist it's also about conservation and

animal welfare only with protectionism

they say can those and other values be

enforced cattle breeder Marcus Ritter

doesn't believe free-trade principles

are compatible with production standards

the Swiss would accept what's very

important is that here in Switzerland we

also believe we have an ethical

responsibility to produce the food here

that we can and not just seek to use our

purchasing power to get things on the

world market as cheaply as possible so

price plays a role but ethical

responsibility also plays an important

one

of course the Swiss pay a high price for

supporting domestic production of food

but it's the only way to make farmers in

the country competitive in a cheaper

world that's protectionism and Germans

do it too

Germany subsidizes every hectare of

farmland in the country to the tune of

280 euros annually in all countries in

Europe invest around 60 billion euros

every year in agriculture but that

encourages the overproduction of milk

and pork which are dumped cheap on the

Chinese market that's the other hidden

side of European protectionism and the

Americans do it as well

farmers there also receive huge

subsidies while giant agribusiness

multinationals export produce all over

the world the biggest losers in that

equation are small farmers in poor

countries which brings us back to

Cameroon for years European firms

exported poultry parts here that no one

in Europe wanted that destroyed agnus

KOA's breeding business no one bought

her Cameroonian chickens anymore at

least until the country decided to be

more protectionist and barred imports of

chicken parts since then business has

slowly picked up people in her village

are slowly beginning to raise birds for

sale again koa is a well-known figure in

the area she's happy to show us her

small farm

she hopes that things now will get a

little better these coops remained empty

for years because European chicken

especially parts from Germany simply

made it too cheap for her to compete but

now the ban on imports has given her a

fresh start it's going well again I love

my business I'm so happy

you can earn money again with chicken

farming a chicken market in yaoundé the

birds on offer here are domestic

varieties they had grown scarce while

cheap European imports dominated sales

Francisco Mari from the NGO bread for

the world has come on an inspection tour

15 years ago he was one of the first to

raise a public outcry about how europe's

poultry waste was destroying livelihoods

in africa he's glad to see the

Cameroon's ban on the import of frozen

poultry parts has restarted domestic

production closing the border helped in

this case but Cameroon has to lift the

ban because according to an agreement

signed with the EU tariffs and

non-tariff barriers have to go but mari

believes that if this critical juncture

in its development cameroon more than

ever needs to protect its industries

of course markets should be protected as

long as their products can't compete

with ours that's justified many

countries have only now begun to wrap up

their own production with these kinds of

systems

why shouldn't Africa be allowed to do

that Mary knows all about the price of

chicken and he's also acquainted with

the desperate situation people face here

and in other African countries the free

trade agreements that the EU is forcing

on them he says are one-sided and

outdated they give these countries no

advantages that they didn't already have

namely market access and they had to

open up their own markets step by step

to get it Cameroon has little chance to

protect itself

other industries and trades also need

protecting says Maori because they're

still in a critical phase companies in

Cameroon for instance could begin

building powerful motorcycles today they

all come from China free trade does

bring prosperity to some people but it

also widens the gap between rich and

poor the richest 10% of humanity now

owns 90% of the wealth on the planet the

poorest 50 percent of the world's

population has to make do with almost

nothing just 0.2 percent of the wealth

the winners are those who can afford to

invest in global concerns Google parent

company alphabet has quintupled in value

in the last few years

Apple's value has risen by a factor of

10 during the same period the world

economy has only grown by about a third

but capital flows across borders

wherever money can be made so the

finance sector also profits at a vast

scale from free trade

[Music]

the problem is there are no global rules

for taxation that allows big companies

to park billions in offshore tax havens

like the Cayman Islands or Panama

[Music]

there are no global controls in the

areas where they have the potential to

make a difference to the world's poorest

that's why protests are growing louder

like this one at a WTO meeting in Buenos

Aires

critics say the organization is little

more than a cartel there to protect the

interests of the powerful industrialized

nations and global concerns

people like mama and ballet have few

chances in a world like that

because without protectionism trade can

never be fair food production in

particular has to be shielded from cheap

competition whether in developing

countries or industrialized ones if we

want to continue producing food products

in the region rather than in the

cheapest place in the world and if the

products only follow the highest

purchasing power then the only way to

sustain that is with protectionism but a

positive protectionism based on

sustainability

Africa doesn't need fetters it needs

protection while its industries grow and

only when that happens will the flood of

migrants to Europe searching for a

better life finally slow Francisco Mari

says the current model is fundamentally

flawed the rules of world trade are

actually made to allow big countries to

invest in small ones and gain access to

their resources there's a lot of

hypocrisy there especially in

agriculture

everyone bangs on about how we need free

trade but is busy protecting themselves

in a huge way with subsidies to their

own farmers so it's a two-faced

deception crying out for free trade

internationally while practicing

protectionism at home that won't work

it's unfair and I believe there's no

future in it

[Music]

the global exchange of goods is always a

fight for prosperity and in the end

there are winners and losers trade that

is truly free is a myth and will always

remain one

[Music]

[Music]

you