Ethics in International Trade

Abstract. This paper examines ethics in international trade from several different ethical perspectives, including consequentialism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics and deontology. The views of Aristotle, Plato, Adam Smith, Bentham, Kant, Pareto, Rawls, Flew, Nozick, Bastiat and others are discussed and contrasted. Flow charts are provided to reflect the utilitarian and rights approaches to trade. Utilitarianism is shown to be structurally deficient for several reasons that cannot be overcome. Antidumping laws and sanctions are shown to be negative-sum games. Antidumping laws are seen for what they are, tools of rent-seeking in which some influential minority seeks to use the powers of government to protect them from competition, which harms the vast majority of the population. Any trade restrictions must necessarily violate someone’s property, contract and/or association rights. The only way to achieve a just trade policy is to allow individuals, and the corporations that represent them, to trade what they have for what they want without government interference. The view that trade deficits are bad and trade surpluses are good is dismantled. The present paper also includes a bibliography on trade, including links to more than 100 studies on trade.