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.