[thomastjeffery]

Could a market be free without tariffs? Does free not imply competitive?

US policy can't force South Korea or Taiwan to have a free market. No matter what we do, any domestic company has to be able to compete with Samsung and TSC. Because of that, there is no purely "free" global market.

Either you change the rules at the border (tariffs), you match your competitors' strategy (subsidize), or you lose.