Trading blows : party competition and U.S. trade policy in a globalizing era / James Shoch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shoch, James.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Free trade--Political aspects.

Free trade.

United States--Commercial policy.

United States.

Commercial policy.

Free trade--Political aspects--United States.

Political parties--United States.

Political parties.

Physical Description:

x, 388 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2001]

Summary:

For the past two decades, trade policy has been high on the American political agenda, thanks to the growing integration of the United States into the global economy and the wealth of debate this development has sparked. Although scholars have explored many aspects of U.S. trade policy, there has been little study of the role played by party politics. With Trading Blows, James Shoch fills that gap.

Shoch offers detailed case studies of almost all of the major trade issues of the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton eras, including administrative and legislative efforts to curb auto, steel, and other imports and to open up markets in Japan and elsewhere, as well as free-trade initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) treaty that concluded the Uruguay Round of international trade talks, the extension of presidential fast-track trade negotiating authority, and the approval of permanent normal trade relations with China. In so doing, he explains the complex patterns of party competition over U.S. trade policy since 1980 and demonstrates the significant impact that party politics has had on the nation's recent trade policy decisions.

Contents:

1 Parties and Trade Policy: A Theoretical Framework 11

2 Trade Policy and Party Politics from the Civil War to 1980 47

3 The First Reagan Administration: Democratic Pressure and White House Retreat 71

4 Partisanship Heats Up: The Trade Policy Explosion of 1985-1986 94

5 The One-hundredth Congress: Trade Legislation and Presidential Politics 116

6 The Bush Years: Opening Japan, Negotiating NAFTA 137

7 Clinton's First Two Years in Office: Trade Activism on All Fronts 161

8 Trade Liberalization Grinds to a Halt, 1995-1998 198

9 Trade Liberalization Set Back Again, Then Renewed?: The Battle in Seattle and PNTR with China 227

Figure A.1 Tariff Levels and Major Trade Acts by Partisan Control, 1820-1990 274

Figure A.2 Percentage of Party Members Voting for Freer Trade, 1870-1994 277

Figure A.3 Party Cohesion on Trade Votes in Congress, 1870-1994 278

Figure A.4 Percentage of "Promarket" Votes Cast by Members of Congress on Trade and All Issues, 1985-1994 280

Figure A.5 Difference in "Promarket" Ratings between Republicans and Democrats on Trade and All Issues, 1985-1994 281.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [283]-375) and index.

ISBN:

0807826464

0807849758

OCLC:

46401616