It's somewhat ironic saying this in response to someone who because of the high price (he thought) he was going to have to pay he took his business to someone local.
He had $60. His options were: A) pay someone local to make it B) buy from abroad and save $50 to spend on other items to increase economic prosperity
Either way he gets his part. But without the inflated costs, he could have had more “stuff” and created other jobs.
We don’t employ switchboard operators anymore and our lives are definitely better. To me, protectionism would be like keeping operators employed even in the face of modern switch technology.