Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy.

• Position: NBER Books

Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy Douglas A. Irwin $35

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 the policy chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will prosper, while others will suffer.

Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of U.S. 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, then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over...