American Trade Policy:: A Tragedy in the Making

In this monograph Anne O. Krueger demonstrates the increasing reliance on bilateral and regional trading arrangements and shows the dangers of departures from multilateralism. Using examples from trading relationships with individual countries (especially Japan and Korea), she shows how the presence of third countries not covered by agreements, market forces, and unanticipated technological and economic events undermine the intended effects of many bilateral arrangements. Ms. Krueger analyzes the North American Free Trade Agreement, and its prospective enlargement to a Western Hemisphere free trade agreement, in light of its impact on the multilateral trading system. While such arrangements can be "GATT plus, " they can also be GATT substitutes. The author outlines the ways in which the presence of regional arrangements can detract from the open multilateral trading system, especially at a time when the new World Trade Organization should be the focal point of energy and attention. Ms. Krueger concludes by summarizing the failures of bilateral approaches to achieving their objectives and calling for a renewed commitment to the open multilateral trading system.