Talking Trade

Trade with Japan, the emerging opportunities within the new European Community, and the economic future of developing nations are all bound up with trade, and each bears on the strength of the United States economy and its national interests. Talking Trade examines these questions through a set of case studies chosen to show the range of present-day trade policies, business practices, and trading partners.

The book opens with a survey of the GATT, the framework of multilateral rules that governs trade among nations. From there it turns to specific situations: two contrasting American dealings with Japan, one concerning manufactured goods and the other concerning services; the trade strategy of Brazil, a country industrializing rapidly; and the European Community, the largest trading bloc in the world.

Across these cases, the book follows several larger threads. It shows how trade is tied to economic policy, how foreign policy and domestic politics influence one another, and how America's economic standing shifts as new economic powers rise on the global stage.