Stephen D. Cohen - Fundamentals of U.s. Foreign Trade Policy: Economics, Politics, Laws, and Issues

Economics, Politics, Laws, and Issues

Stephen D. Cohen
The American University
Joel R. Paul
University of Connecticut
Robert A. Blecker
The American University

First published 1996 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2018 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohen, Stephen D.
Fundamentals of U.S. Foreign trade policy: economics, politics,
laws, and issues / Stephen D. Cohen, Joel R. Paul, Robert A.
Blecker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-1746-0. ISBN 0-8133-1747-9 (pbk.)
1. United StatesCommercial policy. 2. Free tradeUnited
States. 3. Foreign trade regulationUnited States. 4. United
StatesForeign economic relations. I. Paul, Joel R. II. Blecker,
Robert A., 1956. III. Title.
HF1455.C5758 1996
382.30973dc20 95-37934
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-00740-9 (hbk)

There is no shortage of good academic literature dealing with the foreign trade policy of the United States. Lack of time to read the thousands of books and articles written on this subject is the problem, not the lack of alternatives. Texts on trade theory are so plentiful that they are outnumbered only by the writings with a "policy attitude"argumentative pieces advocating fewer restrictions on imports, more import restrictions, adoption or nonadoption of industrial policies, and so on. Legal scholars have written hundreds of articles on the meaning and implications of U.S. domestic trade laws and on the international obligations incurred from adherence to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Business specialists have written instructional books for would-be exporters and importers. Political scientists continue to write about their quest for a single, unified theory to explain decision-making in U.S. trade policy. Relatively new issues such as the escalation of Japanese-U.S. trade frictions, the North American Free Trade Agreement, declining U.S. industrial competitiveness, and the relationship between trade and the environment have quickly generated numerous studies whose authors argue all conceivable points of view.

Nevertheless, one important kind of trade study is still missing: a basic text that comprehensively explains the content, context, and agenda of U.S. trade policy in terms of the dilemmas inherent in making difficult choices among competing ideas. In this book we argue that trade policy is the result of the perpetual need for policymakers to select from among legitimate albeit competing objectives. Specifically, these objectives are spread among the four components of foreign trade policy: domestic and external economic and political priorities that often suggest diametrically different policy alternatives.

This thesis is found obliquely r not at all in the other writings on this subject. Amid the mountain of literature, we have yet to encounter an academic text that formally recognizes and integrates the three principal elements shaping and moving U.S. trade policy: economic theory, political necessity, and federal legislation. It is the ever-changing hierarchy of these three elements that guarantees evolution and nuance in the U.S. government's export and import actions. Appreciation of the interrelationship among economics, politics, and to a lesser extent statutes is the first step in fully understanding the performance, objectives, limitations, virtues, and failures of U.S. trade policy.

Most existing works view U.S. trade policy in an overly narrow context as essentially a struggle between champions of free trade and advocates of protectionism. Export policy often is completely ignored in the literature; import policy and trade policy often are implicitly but erroneously portrayed as being synonymous. A majority of these works are theoretical discourses or efforts either to offer and defend a recommended new course of action or to critique past policy measures.

This book is designed to fill an important but long ignored niche in trade policy analysis by providing a fully integrated explanation of the complementary and conflicting forces that create contemporary U.S. trade policy. Our book does not take positions on the debates about which theory should dominate and about the efficacy of and changes needed in trade policies. The objective here is neither to reshape the policy debate nor to offer value judgments. Rather, we seek to educate all interested parties about the subtleties and the multiple layers of reality in U.S. trade policy. Our book is designed to cover objectively all the major fundamentals and principal contemporary issues of U.S. trade policy at a level of detail appropriate to a one-semester university or law school course.

One practical explanation for the dearth of literature creating a seamless web among the three basic elements composing trade policyeconomics, politics, and statutesis that extremely few trade-oriented academics are adequately trained in all three disciplines. In order to reap the benefits of a division of labor, this book has been written by three academics, each of whom has extensive background in at least two of these three disciplines. This is a joint collaboration to the extent that we read and critiqued one another's drafts, and changes were made as the result of this review process. However, every chapter was entirely written by one person. In view of this "exclusiveness" and the fact that the three of us did not agree in every case on nuances and priorities, each of us wishes to be held personally responsible for the content and accuracy of only our "proprietary" chapters. Robert A. Blecker, a professor in The American University's Economics Department, is the author of , which deals with the evolution of international trade theory. Joel R. Paul, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, wrote the chapter dealing with U.S. import and export laws and the chapter detailing the obligations associated with U.S. participation in the GATT. Stephen D. Cohen, a professor in The American University's School of International Service, conceived the book, fashioned its organization, and wrote all of the remaining chapters. Steve Cohen also prepared the appendixes, which document some of the key statistics associated with U.S. imports and exports.

The contents of the book were enormously enhanced by the valuable comments received on many of its chapters from several experienced, insightful outside readers who collectively possess specialized expertise on many aspects of U.S. trade policy. We extend our collective appreciation (in alphabetical order) to Ray Ahearn, Bill Cromwell, Geza Feketekuty, Renee Marlin-Bennett, Terry McKinley, Dick Nanto, Walter Park, and Robert Scott for their time and valuable advice. Needless to say, the authors take full responsibility for any factual errors and all conclusions to be found in their respective chapters.