On a macro level, free trade - which opens up foreign markets to U.S. products - boosts employment, but there are obviously certain industries for which free trade has been damaging.
Free trade should be limited to those nations that are more or less like us in terms of wage levels and environmental protections, or which because of geographic realities provide real synergies for U.S. manufacturing (I'm thinking Canada and Mexico here)
For nations not described above, I have no objection to VAT-type tariffs that level the playing field for U.S. workers, but they should be apolitical tariffs, determined on an objective basis with respect to a country's wage levels and environmental protections without regard to the political regime.
Finally, we need to get our own house in order, by cutting corporate taxes to competitive levels (or eliminating such taxes entirely with respect to a company's U.S. operations, which would incentivize companies to make stuff here).
