Should the United States use retaliatory threats to open foreign markets or deter unfair trading practices? This study reexamines the arguments for and against reciprocity and retaliatory threats in light of actual experience since early 1975, especially the United States' aggressive use of the section 301, special 301, and super 301 provisions of US trade law, which gives the president broad authority to retaliate against "unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory" foreign trade practices. It analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of these policies and the circumstances under which they are likely to succeed or fail. The study contains an empirical assessment of all section 301 cases concluded between 1975 and 1993. It also provides detailed case studies of various trade conflicts, including the super 301 negotiations involving Japan, Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Korea, financial services disputes with Japan and the European Union, the US-EU conflict over oilseeds, and the US-Japan beef and citrus negotiations. It concludes with an assessment of how the world trading system will change in the aftermath of the Uruguay Round of multilateral negotiations and why it is necessary and desirable for US policy to move from aggressive unilateralism to a strategy of aggressive multilateralism.

In this volume, Patrick Low, makes a strong case that since WWII, too much emphasis has been focused on trade negotiations as a zero-sum game. He then offers a provocative look at new alternatives to issues and clarifies the debate going on among policymakers today.

And conclusions -- I. Introduction -- II. GATT negotiations in perspective -- III. High-technology trade -- IV. Agriculture -- V. Mature industries: Automobiles, steel, textiles and apparel -- VI. Trade in Services.

U.S. trade obligations derive from international trade agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the other World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, and additional bilateral and regional trade agreements, as well as domestic laws intended to implement those agreements or effectuate U.S. trade policy goals. This report provides an overview of both sources of U.S. trade obligations, focusing on a select group of agreements, provisions, and statutes that are most commonly implicated by U.S. trade interests and policy. This report is not intended as a comprehensive review of trade law. It is an introductory overview of the legal framework governing trade-related measures.

Americo Beviglia Zampetti s Fairness in the World Economy provides an important lens into understanding fairness debates in contemporary trade discourse. . . an important contribution to the trade literature. . . the historical excavation that Fairness in the World Economy provides is of great value. Students and scholars alike will find Zampetti s clear and concise history of US trade policy from the founding to the present to be extremely useful. More importantly, at a time when there is widespread argument that too few share in [globalization s] benefits [and] too many have no voice in its design and no influence on its course, Fairness in the World Economy invites its readers to consider the adequacy of the level playing field notion of fairness and to grapple with the politically contentious question of how trade can help create a more just international economic order. Jeffrey L. Dunoff, The American Journal of International Law This is an unusually timely and insightful work, addressing the crucial issue of the justice of globalization. The author avoids the polemics and abstractions with which this question is usually treated; his economic literacy as well as hands-on policy experience in international and transnational institutions, make this a uniquely practical, balanced and nuanced account, bringing much clarity to a heated debate, which usually divides the different disciplines and specialities rather than inciting their engagement. Robert L. Howse, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, US This volume describes the birth (with all the birth defects) of the notion of fairness in the US. The extent of the author's research is quite breathtaking: not only does he delve into an infinite series of official and semi-official documents, but he also looks at case law, opinions expressed in the literature etc., to come up with an expression of (US) fairness that does not suffer from selection bias. But this is only half what the author has accomplished through his work. He goes on to examine how US fairness has been exported to international institutions (such as the GATT/WTO regime) and demonstrates how, once discussed and shaped among all trading partners, it has come back to the US in a different form. The book thus provides both the inside out and the outside in perspective. It will prove invaluable for the political scientist, the economic historian and the lawyer alike. Petros C. Mavroidis, Edwin B. Parker Professor of Law, Columbia Law School, US and University of Neuchatel, Switzerland & CEPR This book represents a significant scholarly contribution to the field of international political economy, with particular respect to the evolution of the multilateral trading system. The author engages effectively with the current debate concerning the conflict between the legalistic foundations of the multilateral trading system underpinned by the equality of nation states and the demands for fair trade on the basis of inter-personal equity. It is a coherent and well-researched book on a critically important issue that has not received the significant attention that it deserves within the field of international trade policy. Robert Read, Lancaster University Management School, UK In an international context, fairness is particularly important, since only a system which is perceived by its participants as fair can command acceptance and compliance. The main focus of this study is to investigate the development of the notion of fairness in US trade policy and law as well as the impact this notion has on international trade discussions and rule-making, and especially on the formation of the multilateral trade regime. The contention of the author, Americo Beviglia Zampetti, is that fairness concerns, which have been present in the US trade policy debates and treaty practice since the Republic s inception, have contributed to shaping these debates and practice over the years, both at home and abroad. These concerns were