Trade and American Leadership: The Paradoxes of Power and Wealth from Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump

by Craig VanGrasstek

Overview

From the nation-building of Alexander Hamilton to the trade wars of Donald Trump, trade policy has been a key instrument of American power and wealth. The open trading system that the United States sponsored after the Second World War serves US interests by promoting cooperation and prosperity, but also allows the allies to become more independent and China to rise. The case studies in Trade and American Leadership examine how the value of preferential trade programs is undercut by the multilateral liberalization that the United States promoted for generations, and how trade sanctions tend either to be too economically costly to impose or too modest to matter. These problems are exacerbated by a domestic political system in which the gains from trade are unevenly distributed, power is fragmented, and strategies are easily undermined. Trade and American Leadership places special emphasis on today's challenges, and the rising danger of economic nationalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108476959
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/03/2019
Pages:	500
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Craig VanGrasstek teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Massachusetts, and has previously taught at American University's School of International Service, Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, the World Trade Institute, and the University of Barcelona. He is the author of The History and Future of the World Trade Organization (2013).

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction and Overview: 1. The domestic diplomacy of trade and the paradoxes of power and wealth; 2. The theory and practice of the Anglo-American hegemonies; 3. After hegemony: power, wealth, and trade policy since the Cold War; Part II. The Domestic Diplomacy of Trade: 4. The domestic diplomacy of trade agreements; 5. The expanding scope of trade and the contagion of conflict; 6. Washington slept here: how Trump caught politicians napping on trade; Part III. Trading with Allies: 7. Defence vs. opulence: sea power and law in Anglo-American hegemonies; 8. The sun also sets: the Japanese challenge to the US auto industry; 9. Canada and the domestic diplomacy of US trade policy; Part IV. Trading with Adversaries: 10. The strategy and domestic diplomacy of sanctions; 11. Russo-American relations and the paradox of sanctions; 12. Trading with the NME: the Chinese challenge to US hegemony; Part V. Trading with Developing Countries: 13. The strategy and domestic diplomacy of trade preferences; 14. The elusive integration of the Americas; 15. War, peace, and trade in the Middle East; Part VI. Trade and Trump: 16. Power and wealth in the Trump administration and beyond.

Editorial Reviews

'After years of malign neglect, the critical role of American leadership in the international trading system is once again front and center in the public debate. Craig VanGrasstek has therefore done an enormous service in bringing forth this timely, thoughtful, and deeply informed study of American trade politics from the nation’s founding to the radical rupture being wrought by President Trump.' Benn Steil, Director of international economics, Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War

'This book is a must-read for anybody hoping to understand the forces behind the current and future US trade and foreign policy. It combines historical depth to explore the theory and practice of American hegemony over several decades, with thorough analyses of Washington’s slow shift from the multilateral to the preferential approach of trade and international relations - including its current episode of chaotic sanctions. An international political economy study at its best.' Patrick Messerlin, Sciences Po Paris

'Craig VanGrasstek offers a sweeping account for understanding the trade policies of Alexander Hamilton, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Donald Trump - both nationalists and free traders - within one consistent geopolitical framework.' Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Peterson Institute for International Economics

From the Publisher