I would disagree. Fairness is dependent on the parties freely engaging in the transaction. If the terms of trade are unfair, the parties deeming it unfair don't engage in the transaction unless the trade isn't free.
In the case of China-US trade, an assumption is that if China places a larger tariff on mports than does the US then the trade isn't fair. But why and fair to who? If it's unfair, why do so many people do the trade? Is everyone just crazy? No, because the price paid on import taxes is paid by domestic consumers of those imports. The country with lower tariffs benefits their consumers and producers who use imports in their production in that they don't pay artificially higher prices due to govt interference.
This better price means that they can take that captial that would have gone to government coffers andedo something else with it instead.
The US ought to just drop tariifs to 0 regardless of what everyone else does and reap the benefits of lower taxes and capital inflows. Instead Republicans are all the sudden for higher taxes and capital deficits.
Also I'm not saying the United States is an innocent trade partner who's always fair. Only that by comparison as a nation we're more open to trade. So other nations have better access into our markets than we do theirs. The question I asked about fair trade was meant how do we get freer trade with a nation like China that's less one-sided.
Above T.P.P. was mentioned, I remember the opposition believed it favored international corporations at the expense of the people. It infringed on the sovereignties of nations and their people would have less say about trade and business. The decisions would be decided separately from governments by agreed upon institutions which each nation was to accept and enforce. Having thought more about it, not ideal politically, it was practical for freer trade. Not only among nations who agreed, but it pressured China as it was excluded. This meant it's competitors had greater access in each other's markets but China didn't putting it at a disadvantage.