American Trade Policy, 1923-1995
This work covers trade policy from 1923 to 1995 taking the history of American tariffs from the Prelude to Trade Wars to the present. It begins during the period of high tariffs and discusses the arguments for and against protectionism. Cordell Hull and the Reciprocal Trade Agreements of the 1930s are discussed along with the increase in trade revenue from these agreements. The major changes in trade policy including GATT, the European Community, and many more are discussed in the work. It is part of an on-going debate among economic historians over the supposed movement of the United States toward protectionism since the 1980s.
EDWARD S. KAPLAN is a Professor in the Social Science Department at New York City Technical College. His speciality is economic history of the United States, and has coauthored Prelude to Trade Wars: American Tariff Policy, 1890-1922 (Greenwood Press, 1994).