During the recent presidential campaign, some prominent politicians called for a "time out" in negotiating new agreements to expand international trade, and others wanted to reduce it by canceling existing trade agreements. The stated concern is that trade with countries with low labor costs forces American workers to either accept lower salaries and wages or lose their jobs to low-paid foreign workers. This concern raises the question--is the goal of free international trade out of date? The author's answer to this question is an emphatic "No!" As long as creating higher paying jobs (both here and in other countries) by making the best use of scarce resources is a desirable goal, free trade is not out of date. Nations may never achieve perfectly free international trade, but the struggle to reduce existing trade restrictions is a noble one. Achieving freer trade would not only improve this country's prosperity, but it is also the most effective way to help people in other countries improve theirs. In this article, the author uses the concepts of opportunity cost and comparative advantage to explain how Americans, as well as people in smaller, and generally poorer, countries, would benefit from reduced trade restrictions.