Remaking Us Trade Policy

Chorev focuses on trade liberalization in the United States from the 1930s to the present as she explores the political origins of today's global economy.

In trade policy, as in many other areas of public policy, decision makers often confront present and future problems with little understanding of how similar disputes were resolved in the past. Too often, busy public officials had no time to write or record negotiating histories. Revisiting U.S. Trade Policy, which is certain to become a classic in the literature of trade negotiations, is just such a record. Built on the oral histories of thirty-five former U.S. trade policymakers -- including Michael Blumenthal, Alonzo McDonald, William Roth, and Robert S. Strauss -- this unique record, prepared for publication by Alfred E. Eckes, revisits some of the most important moments of America's trade liberalization program in the years after World War II. From GATT to the World Trade Organization, these major players look back in candid hindsight at their decisions concerning trade policy and the effects that those decisions had on shaping the new international economic order.

The trade policies addressed in this book have far-reaching effects on the world's increasingly interdependent economies, but until now little research has been devoted to them. This volume represents the first systematic effort to analyze specific U.S. trade policies, particularly nontariff measures. It provides a better understanding of how trade policies operate, how effective they are, and what their costs and benefits are to trading nations. The contributors chart the history of U.S. trade policy since World War II, analyze industry-specific trade barriers, and discuss the effects of tariff preferences and export-promoting policies such as export credits and domestic international sales corporations (DISCs). The final section of essays examines the worldwide impact of import policies, pointing out subtleties in industry-specific policies and providing insight into the levels of protection in developing countries. The contributors blend state-of-the-art economics with language that is accessible to the business community, economists, and policymakers. Commentaries accompany each paper.

What was the "battle in Seattle" over trade all about? You may know...but do your students? With John Rothgeb′s concise text U.S. Trade Policy: Balancing Economic Dreams and Political Realities, your students will learn about international trade, the political tensions it rouses, and its historical roots. Rothgeb carefully traces the forces that affect U.S. trade policy′s development and implementation, including: * the strategic and competitive international arena * policymakers′ views on the value of trade * the influence of special interest groups * the impact of institutional rivalries Supplement your foreign and economic policy course with a balanced discussion of the enormous changes spurred by the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, the Bretton Woods system, and the GATT, to the controversy surrounding current trade relations withteh European Union and China.

This collection of essays offers critical perspectives on current issues in the international economy. Divided into four parts, U.S. Trade Policy and Global Growth discusses managed trade and international interdependence, the effect of trade on domestic wages and employment, the costs and benefits of trade protection, and likely effects of NAFTA. The collection also addresses the U.S. trade deficit and presents a Keynesian proposal for international monetary reform. Part IV focuses on issues facing developing countries in the areas of trade, industrial, and financial policy. Rejecting the dogma that pure free-market policies should be accepted as articles of religious faith, in either international trade or domestic policy, the contributors search for trade and macro policies that can achieve balanced growth with high employment and an equitable distribution of income in both the United States and the rest of the world.

Four experts provide contrasting points of view and different solutions as the administration attempts to fashion a U.S. trade strategy for the 21st century.

The purpose of this paper is to describe United States trade policy since World War II, and to assess the possibility for ongoing U.S.trade-policy leadership. U.S. trade policy has shown remarkable consistency since World War II. It has never been as purely free-trade-focussed as some commentators suggest, but it has not recently shifted toward isolationism as dramatically as alarmists fear. It has almost always been best described as "open, but fair," with injury to import competitors being the measure of "fairness." The general consistency of U.S. trade policy over time is quite remarkable given the frequent change of political party in power, especially in the executive branch, but also in the Congress. U.S. trade-policy leadership seems still potentially strong despite a decline in U.S. hegemony. It is clearly strong in a protectionist direction. Any shift toward aggressive insularity justifies parallel trade-policy aggression in the eyes of trading partners. It is arguably strong ina liberalizing direction as well. The U.S. seems ideally poised for aggressive trade-policy peacemaking; perhaps multilaterally, but perhaps also bilaterally; perhaps with its traditional industrial trading partners, but perhaps also with Japan and newly industrializing Asian countries that play so importanta role in U.S. trade, and that, on many matters, may be closer in spirit to U.S. economic philosophy than Europe, Canada, or Latin America

Lovett (Tulane Law School), Eckes (a former commissioner of the U.S. International Commission during the Reagan and Bush I administrations), and Brinkman (international economics, Portland State U.) evaluate the evolution of U.S. trade policy, focusing on the period from the establishment of the Gen

Vernon, the acknowledged authority in international economics, analyzes the past, present and dangerous future of American trade politics and policymaking. He recommends giving up on comprehensive global agreements, and urges narrow agreements between a small number of countries.

In this monograph Anne O. Krueger demonstrates the increasing reliance on bilateral and regional trading arrangements and shows the dangers of departures from multilateralism. Using examples from trading relationships with individual countries (especially Japan and Korea), she shows how the presence of third countries not covered by agreements, market forces, and unanticipated technological and economic events undermine the intended effects of many bilateral arrangements. Ms. Krueger analyzes the North American Free Trade Agreement, and its prospective enlargement to a Western Hemisphere free trade agreement, in light of its impact on the multilateral trading system. While such arrangements can be "GATT plus", they can also be GATT substitutes. The author outlines the ways in which the presence of regional arrangements can detract from the open multilateral trading system, especially at a time when the new World Trade Organization should be the focal point of energy and attention. Ms. Krueger concludes by summarizing the failures of bilateral approaches to achieving their objectives and calling for a renewed commitment to the open multilateral trading system.