Future Visions for US Trade Policy

Congressional failure to approve fast-track trade negotiating authority last year and the mounting trade-related problems created by the East Asian financial crisis confront the president and the American people with critical strategic trade policy choices.

Four experts provide c ontrasting points of view and different solutions as the administration attempts to fashion a US trade strategy for the 21st century.

As they see it, the choices facing the president include: work to rebuild public support from trade and press ahead for trade liberalization at home and abroad; help to make Americans understand that globalization is a boon both to the US economy and to the freedom of people everywhere; slow the rush toward trade liberalization and concentrate instead on more effective worker-training programmes and labour and environmental rights; or encourage Congress to take more responsibility for trade policy.

This volume, the second in the CPI series, lays out these choices in detail through four memos written by prominent experts: C.

Fred Bergsten, William A. Niskanen, Jeff Faux, and Pat Choate. The memos are preceded by a memorandum to the president from the "National Economic Council" that explains the strengths, weaknesses, and politics surrounding each alternative.