Opening America's Market: U.S. Foreign Trade Policy Since 1776 (Business, Society, and the State)

Despite the passage of NAFTA and other recent free trade victories in the United States, former U.S. trade official Alfred Eckes warns that these developments have a dark side. Opening America's Market offers a bold critique of U.S. trade policies over the last sixty years, placing them within a historical perspective. Eckes reconsiders trade policy issues and events from Benjamin Franklin to Bill Clinton, attributing growing political unrest and economic insecurity in the 1990s to shortsighted policy decisions made in the generation after World War II. Eager to win the Cold War and promote the benefits of free trade, American officials generously opened the domestic market to imports but tolerated foreign discrimination against American goods. American consumers and corporations gained in the resulting global economy, but many low-skilled workers have become casualties. Eckes also challenges criticisms of the 'infamous' protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which allegedly worsened the Great Depression and provoked foreign retaliation. In trade history, he says, this episode was merely a mole hill, not a mountain. Despite The Passage Of Nafta And Other Recent Free Trade Victories In The United States, Former U.s. Trade Official Alfred Eckes Warns That These Developments Have A Dark Side. Opening America's Market Offers A Bold Critique Of U.s. Trade Policies, Concentrating On The Evolution Of Those Policies Over The Last Sixty Years And Placing Them Within A Broad Historical Perspective. While Many Believe The United States Rose To World Leadership On The Strength Of Its Commitment To Free Trade, Eckes Shows The Facts Are Quite Different. Free Trade And Economic Security, 1776-1860 -- Protection And Prosperity? -- Unreciprocal Trade -- Infamous Smoot-hawley -- Cordell Hull's Tariff Revolution -- Opening America's Market, 1960-1974 -- Illusive Safeguards -- Curbing Executive Discretion In Unfair Trade Cases. Alfred E. Eckes, Jr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 349-382) And Index. Offers a critique of US trade policies since the late 1930s, placing them within a historical perspective dating back to 1776. The book reconsiders trade policy, attributing growing political unrest and economic insecurity in the 1990s to shortsighted policy decisions made after World War II. A former U.S. trade official provides a critique of U.S. trade policies over the last 60 years, placing them within full historical perspective. (Please see cloth edition published 9/95.)