Trade is the real issue

When you have thousands of companies whose job it is to educate on the complexities of the layers of laws protecting workers, it costs the business time and money.  Eventually you get to a point where you cannot effectively compete internationally with other countries in producing ‘widgets’.  Soon company after company that produces ‘widgets’ shuts down and the local population can’t even find a pair of khakis or a towel made in the host country.   The end result is heightened unemployment, large trade deficits, and ballooning budget deficits.  We can give everyone healthcare, protect everyone’s rights, and ignore either of two options:

Option I:  We figure out a way to tax products coming into the country for the lack of environmental, legal and social protections that we have here in the US.  At the same time find a way to remove the burden on the domestic supplier when exporting goods.

Option II:  Reduce our own protections to equalize the difference between us and the other guys.

Do we have any more options?  Anyone care to suggest an alternative?