BOOK: Douglas A. Irwin, Clashing over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017). $ 35, ISBN 9780226398969

(Source: University of Chicago Press)

The University of Chicago Press has published a new book on the history of the United States’ trade policy

Content:

Should the United States be open to commerce with other countries, or should it protect domestic industries from foreign competition? This question has been the source of bitter political conflict throughout American history. Such conflict was inevitable, James Madison argued in The Federalist Papers, because trade policy involves clashing economic interests. The struggle between the winners and losers from trade has always been fierce because dollars and jobs are at stake: depending on what policy is chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will prosper, while others will suffer.
          
Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it. From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready champions and opponents in Congress.

As the Trump administration considers making major changes to US trade policy, Irwin’s sweeping historical perspective helps illuminate the current debate. Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy past and present.

Table of Contents:

-        Revenue. The struggle for Independence, 1763-1789 ;

-        Trade policy for the new nation, 1789-1816 ;

-        Sectional conflict and crisis, 1816-1833 ;

-        Tariff peace and Civil War, 1833-1865;

-        Restriction. The failure of tariff reform, 1865-1890 ;

-        Protectionism entrenched, 1890-1912 ;

-        Policy reversals and drift, 1912-1928 ;

-        The Hawley-Smoot tariff and the Great Depression, 1928-1932;

-        Reciprocity. The New Deal and reciprocal trade agreements, 1932-1943 ;

-        Creating a multilateral trading system, 1943-1950 ;

-        New Order and new stresses, 1950-1979 ;

-        Trade shocks and response, 1979-1992 ;

-        From globalization to polarization, 1992-2017

-        Conclusion.
 

For more information, see the site of the publisher