Import restrictions are often pitched as a tool to smooth our foreign relations. While they may curry favor with bureaucrats within a foreign nation's archaeological establishment, support for broad declarations of state ownership over anything "old" does little to endear the United States with ordinary people within source nations who view their rulers and their unfair laws with distrust (see "Perspective from Turkey"). Rather than supporting confiscatory laws, the United States should encourage foreign governments to treat their citizens fairly by enacting fair and effective laws akin to the United Kingdom's Treasure Act.
