"America" in the abstract has benefited immensely from free trade, but the average American has not. Wealth inequality has never been worse.

Income and wealth inequality, but some studies have shown that consumption inequality hasn't changed much, and that the trend is the opposite when you look at leisure time inequality.

Probably >50% of consumer purchases are imported so it's hard to argue it doesn't benefit them. Imagine suddenly not having access to 50% of the things you buy (or at least having to pay substantially more).

A different take: https://www.amazon.com/Kicking-Away-Ladder-Development-Persp...

I don't think that is a totally different take. I don't buy the narrative that there was some conspiracy, I just think that business and political leaders in Western nations truly thought what they were doing was right, both for themselves and for developing nations. No conspiracy necessary when self-interest and arrogance explain it sufficiently. Haven't read the book though, so I don't know how conspiratorial their take actually is.

The nations that best bucked the trend were the Eastern Asian nations that engaged in protectionist policies despite the desires of the West. Much like China continues to do today.

It’s a bad argument when China has blocked most foreign companies from entering its domestic market. Why can’t we block their companies from operating in our market?