The real problem with free trade is actually the monetary system we use. Under the gold standard if a country imported more than they produced for too long their gold reserves would be drained and they would be forced to stop importing and live within their means because they would not be able to pay for the goods. Under the current system currencies are being manipulated to try to gain an advantage. The value of money in the market place really has no fundamental basis when the amount of money and the price (interest rates) are arbitrary set. This has allowed countries such as the US to live beyond their productive capacity for a very long time.

The real problem is not free trade so much as the monetary system we use.

In other words what we have now is not free trade it is economic warfare.