George Mason's Don Boudreaux makes an excellent case for the relevance of free trade:
http://www.econlib.org/cgi-bin/printarticle2.pl?file=Columns/y2010/Boudreauxglobalization.html
Meanwhile, international concerns grow about US commitment to free trade:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/opinion/31friedman.html