The Trade Warriors: USTR and the American Crusade for Free Trade

About this book

As the recent controversy over NAFTA shows free trade is an issue that evokes passionate debate among Americans. And the lightning rod for emotions over free trade is the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. In fact during the NAFTA battle Trade Representative Micky Kantor was pivotal in winning congressional approval of the agreement. Now in Trade Warriors former Business Week writer Steve Dryden provides the first comprehensive history of the USTR an elite Cabinet-level agency whose officials hold sway over the livelihoods of U.S. workers the fortunes of small factories as well as multinational corporations and Americas relationships with the other major industrial powers of the world. Based on extensive interviews and declassified documents Trade Warriors traces the transformation of the postwar U.S. campaign for free trade. Dryden starts his narrative in the late 1940s when the United States dominated the global economy then moves to 1962 when President Kennedy appointed former Secretary of State Christian Herter to be the first-ever White House "special trade representative " and concludes with the landmark negotiations of the Clinton administration. With a fine journalists eye he takes us inside the contending forces that have shaped U.S. trade policy weaving a compelling story of policymakers and negotiators--their behind-the-scenes struggles their triumphs and failures. And alongside these hard-fought negotiations he highlights a more subtle ideological battle as he examines Americas deep ambivalence about unrestricted free trade and government involvement in the economy. Noting our growing use of trade restrictions in defense of our interests he concludes that while there has been much idealistic talk about free trade--a claim that if all the barriers come down everyone will benefit--the government has long since abandoned such beliefs in practice. Finally Dryden draws evocative portraits of notable USTRs colorful biographical sketches worth reading for their own sake. We meet charismatic Texas Democrat Robert Strauss who used flattery self-depreciation pleading and coarse humor to close deals; Republican notable William Brock who within months of taking office struck an agreement with the Japanese limiting their auto imports but who could never become an insider in the Reagan administration; William Eberle an Idaho businessman who spoke with a slight cowboy twang and whose tendency to play tough guy inside the negotiating room earned him the sobriquet "Typhoon Eberle"; and super-lawyer Carla Hills who came tantalizingly close but couldnt conclude the biggest trade agreement in history. Today almost every American is touched in some way by the forces of international commerce. Trade Warriors is essential reading for anyone who wishes to better understand the evolving role of the United States in the world economy.